Trailblazer Chronicle: Delta Equilibrium
by Evident Disaster
Summary: Ray, a former military operator is displaced from his own world after an incident during a testing of a new system for Plavsky Particle Systems. He's surrounded by familiar faces, but in an unfamiliar world. For this point on he strives to see where this new world takes him, but he's in for the ride of his life as he's pitted against the odds. Update! Chapter 8 Carnage over Dawn.
1. Chapter 0: Prologue and Bio

Chapter 0 Prologue: Empty past, uncertain future…

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 **Author's Note: IMPORTANT!**

The prologue is the character biography and history rolled into one, it has most of his history, as for personality that's actually determined by the reader.

Reading this section is purely optional, but it gives context to the circumstances in which the character finds themselves in.

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Date: 20/02/2035

Location: Democratic Federal Republic of Australia, Carpentaria State (Formerly Northern Territory), New Carpentaria City (State Capital)

New Carpentaria was one of the largest cities in all of Australia, being the second in terms of population, third in terms of size of its metropolitan area, and third in terms of industrial development, it was however the first in terms of scale of international arrivals and probably one of the most advanced cities around in the world.

New Carpentaria began development and construction in 2015, after the overthrow of the previous Australian government in the July Revolution. It had been the forefront of development in Australia. In an agreement with other Pacific nations, namely Korea and Japan, Australia had brought hundreds of thousands of workers from other countries to develop the region that was Carpentaria.

In that time, Carpentaria had become a major population focus over the years, being one of the fastest developed cities in the world, including one of the largest ports in the entire Asia Pacific region, with the Carpentaria Naval Marine Installation, which was a massive artificial river route which led inland for fifty miles and allowed for hundreds of ships to come and go, dropping of considerable levels of cargo.

It was also home to one of the largest military installations in all of Australia and the Pacific barring Pearl Harbour, Okinawa and a few other locations, though Carpentaria was actually intended to allow ships from other navies to dock at the port, rather than just Australian ships. Hence it was known as the largest naval installation in the Pacific.

Of course this wasn't the only reason people came into Carpentaria for, no, it was for the amazing city itself, one of the most advanced places to live in, advanced self-driving vehicles, self-sustaining power systems made available by Tesla Industries, and individual use medical monitors to help determine a person's condition. There were an almost endless number of innovations in Carpentaria.

There was also a greatly cosmopolitan style of life in the metropolitan area, being home to millions of Koreans, Japanese, and other Asian ethnicities; along with them is every other race alongside them. The population consisted of millions living in such a vibrant community which shared all kinds of differences and experiences.

It was a symbol of Australia's sense of community, and friendship with others, not to mention its cultural belief, together it formed a very unique society, one which was dynamic in nature. It also meant that the country as a whole had a variety of varying different beliefs and ideologies, which were permitted in the country, as long as it didn't bring harm to the people or invite hatred for others.

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This place was the homeland for many, including one particular man who had grown up in this country, having lived a life filled with contradictions and difficult decisions, most of which were painful to bear.

His name was Rayleigh Hyung, a man from various backgrounds, Australian, Japanese and Korean, he was a person who had been born and raised in Australia, and he loved the country he was born into. It was the place he had known his entire life, and even as he went overseas and he went to explore the world around, he found himself longing for the chance to return home.

Rayleigh, or Ray as he liked to be called, was originally a normal person, albeit without many family members, unless you counted his brother in law's family. Ray had grown up being raised by his older brother after an argument between Ray and his father, his brother had allowed him to shelter at his house until he was old enough.

His experience in life was one faced with adversity, having a difficulty living up to expectations, and having to deal with lifelong issues, including the loss of family and friends. His parents died in an accident when he was older, and he never had the opportunity to reconcile, the words of his father still deeply seated in his mind, despite their argument having ended years ago.

Eventually opportunity came in a rather symbolic way, and he was given a challenge, one which he would live for the rest of his life, the Australian military had been on the lookout for viable candidates for serving their country. Men with good physical build, mentally sound, with a sense of diligence and discipline were being sought for a special program.

The program was supposed to be experimental and it required the highest standards for selection. And that said, there weren't many people in his school who wanted to risk going in, and he didn't blame them. The whole thing was all smoke and mirrors, people didn't understand the potential risks involved, and no one would be allowed to speak about them.

Being young, head strong, and driven by his father's words of criticism and resentment, he jumped head straight first, without looking behind him. This action would set him down on a path he somehow knew. From this point onwards, his life changed once more, and he followed with a burning determination.

He detached from his former life, seeking this challenge out, willingly, and knowing that the dangers it could entail were high. He told his brother his decision and cut his ties with his friends, knowing that he wouldn't have the opportunities to see them any longer, and even his extended family which he had liked, he knew that this road he now walked would be perilous.

Project 'Sentinel' had been one which entailed a great deal of challenges, one being the physical and mental requirements, though these could be addressed over time, the other was the method of training and merit. The process of creating Sentinel troopers was something of a complicated procedure.

Being voluntary, the project entailed high standards and expectations, leaving many to pursue to the goal of advancing individual limitations and excelling in specialised fields as well as being able to perform tasks and mission scenarios to the best of one's ability. This training regimen and various exercises were brutal and demanding.

Most went through a 3 month training regimen which was meant to weed out the weakest and push the strongest, Ray was lucky that he was right in the middle between the best and worse. His hardships and drive pushed him through the worst of the training and allowed him to prove his worth.

Upon completing the course of training, he had made a few friends; those of his training group had grown closer together as they continued to pursue their goals of succeeding in whatever program the Australian Army had prepared for them. Eventually the goals of the program were finally revealed and he and those within the 'Sentinels' were given the chance to see their goal.

The first stage augmentation process, a process meant to increase response time and operator abilities, followed by further training, though in the use of advanced mechanised units. The procedure continued for a number of months, until they were satisfied with the end results, they would continue to test.

Second stage augmentations were like the first, though with artificial adrenal nodes implanted into their bodies, a few suffered medical issues and were withdrawn, and those who remained, continued. More training came to pass with the use of these augmentations, specialised mechanised armoured frames were produced for them to use.

These machines allowed them to improve upon the augmentations and refine their unit's tactics and strategies, of course there was the added downside that they were imperfect and had many faults, some which were worse than others. Members of the corps began to suffer from motor nerve damage, mentally degenerative conditions and the sort, trouble caused by the combination of their machines and their augmentations.

But they persisted, even when their kin began to drop off one by one, it was a difficult time, but they adapted and persevered in the face of such difficulty. Eventually their corps was formalised to a group of some 150 members, all of them ready for the challenges which lay ahead, whatever they might be.

And as if fate had given them an answer, a war broke out due to worsening tensions in the Indochina region, the Australian ministry of defence determined that using the members of the program was the only way to know for a certainty the viability of augmented military personnel. This action would send Ray and his fellow augments into the midst of the Indochina crisis.

Of course they didn't just randomly shove them into a military mechanised assault frames and into the nearest warzone, they were officially mobilised as an attached special unit to Australian armed forces fighting in Indonesia and the Philippines. With initial operations held in the relative control of the Philippines to avoid losing the operators.

His life from then onwards with those of the project were all thrown into the war, so they could be baptised through blood and fire. This bloody baptism would ultimately determine whether or not they were ready for the horrors of war, or the hardships of conflict in their lives. And Ray, saw the challenge which lay ahead, and he pushed onwards.

Though war was a terrible thing, it gave Ray time to realise a lot of things, one being the fact that his father's words rang so hollow, as he had never gone to war. And all the good and bad most people experience, it wasn't like this in the military, especially when you're there to see it, it's arguable whether the war had changed him, or he had changed his view of war.

Either way, he grew tired, after serving for nearly 6 years, though it was in part of many different reasons, one being the medical condition of the 'Sentinel's', many medical complications arose which killed or resulted in a decommissioning of half the force, and the rest were either killed due to the war or were wounded.

Eventually out of the force of some 150 operators, only 33 had lived to see the end of the program and were able to retire, however of those 33, 13 were still physically fit and the rest were either mentally or physiologically handicapped. The Australian government had taken responsibility to take care of those who survived the program.

Ray found himself without a clear purpose again, his life had been thrown into the meat grinder, and most of his friends were either dead or long forgotten, his family didn't know whether or not he was really alive. As he had dropped out of contact after 2 years into his service, he had no doubt that they had moved on by then as well.

In the end, he medicated his problems of loneliness with alcohol and pain killers. Most of his days were spent mossing over online shows, anime or TV, and working part time at the nearby PX in the city of Carpentaria. But that changed after a few months, an acquaintance contacted him from the city, asking if he was interested in joining him in an old hobby.

Gunpla, a memorabilia of his youth, good and bad, it was something he had been passionate about, and what ultimately led him to take such interest in mechanised technology when he was younger. The origins of his passion brought him back to playing games from a long time ago, and he decided to go and join them. Since then, he had been playing Gunpla again, and indulging himself in the comfort of old hobbies.

For the most part, he spent a day a week at the stadium in Carpentaria city to help his friend out testing new systems for the new entertainment stadium being constructed in the city. Most of this just involved playing through a certain set of scenarios, and then having time to blow on playing matches with the testers.

Though most weren't on the same level as himself, but they were all creative, some did prove that they could do far better at certain things than he could. And he did admit, he was rather methodical in the way he dealt with things, but he was arguably very skilled at playing the game as well. Kicking ass for the most part and taking names, he was able to show them what a former military operator could do on their own.

He got around the main route through the CBD, heading east at a steady pace through Conciliation Avenue which led to Hunters Bay, it was home to the largest parks in Australia, intended for use during the last Olympics. It was an amazing sight to behold, though some of the facilities had become repurposed after use.

One such facility was the Beta Dome, a stadium which had once been used for football/soccer in the last decade but was repurposed for technology conventions, the dome had actually been intended for use as a holographic display. But it was changed to sporting as the Summer Olympics came, it has since then been under redevelopment.

Right now Tesla Industries and Anaheim Electronics had been supporting the development of a major technology theatre/stadium. Anaheim was supported by the US, though it was working in conjunction with Japan's, Plavsky Particle Systems Corporation. Tesla had also played a part in development thanks to their specialisation in advanced energy technologies.

In any event this stadium was currently under development for the sake of creating a stadium which would hold tens of thousands of people and allow for gamers across the world to join in playing a wide variety of games. The stadium was being set to hold the biggest event that was the Gunpla tournament of 2036, which was set to commence six months before the Olympic Games.

As he arrived at the stadium via the triple lane roundabout, he turned into the main path to the stadium. As he approached the main garage entrance, he used the pass given to him and waved it over the holographic interface; he was able to enter after a few seconds, as the doors and gates had to open for him to enter. As he went down the garage, he was able to locate his parking spot, in the visitor's parking area, next to the primary lift in the stadium.

Getting off his bike, he set his helmet aside and grabbed his old assault pack from the back end of his bike, the bag was stuffed to the brim with items, mostly his pilot suit, which he was allowed to keep, and his lunch and utilities. He had just finished work, so he had been able to grab some rations from the back of the store when it was time to close up, food which had ended its shelf life was up for sale over the counter, and like others interested in such things, he bought some to take home.

As he hauled his pack over his shoulder, he went to the nearby lift and pressed his ID over the reader and pressed for service access. The cold metallic doors to the lift closed, and he was able to go up to the servicing area in the stadium. Once the lift reached the floor, he stepped out and he was greeted by the plain white polished walls of the service junction.

Here dozens of lifts stopped off to deliver personnel and material, turning in, he headed off to the left and went down the corridor, and made his way over to the station where he was greeted by one of the stadium staff.  
"Hey, is Michal Keller in?"

"Oh, umm hold on." The staff member said as they pulled up a tablet and checked. "Yeah, he's in. Why?"

"I'm here for simulated testing; I need to go see him." He told them.

"He's down by the next junction near administration, you can't miss him." The staff member said.

"Thanks." Ray waved as he went off.

As he headed over to the cross section down in the stadium, he took a left turn before following the directions to administration. It didn't take him long to track down Keller, he was the only person in the stadium who wore a black jacket and stood out with his black and greying hair, despite being in the same age range as Ray himself.

Keller suffered a strange condition during his childhood which resulted in him ending up with a greying set of hair. But he was physically fit, and he was in the same division as Ray was, but he operated as a mechanic in non-com duties. As he went over he was greeted by his old friend.

"Ray." Keller said with a cheerful wave.

"Hey there Keller." Ray replied with an outstretched hand.

Keller took his hand and gripped it firm while shaking it. "Good to see you mate, I was wondering when you'd be able to come along, and we've got a lot to talk about." Keller said before he stopped shaking Ray's hand.

"I don't doubt it." Ray said in response while he retracted his hand.

"Have you got your pilot suit with you?" Keller inquired.

"Yeah my old pilot suit still had the neural interface attached." Ray stated.

"That's good." Keller said.

"Is there anything I should know before I continue from our last session?" Ray inquired as they continued the discussion while slowly trading through the corridor.

"Yeah, make sure you have fun." Keller said with a smile.

"I had fun." Ray said duly.

"Dude, you acted like the guy who rolled through training, man it's meant to be a game. I know it takes getting used to, but I'd suggest that you relax, and besides we're going to be trying a full immersion, and we'll throw in a few more challenges this time so you can enjoy it more." Keller tried to reassure Ray.

"I hope you're right, that last test felt more like getting stuck in the midst of a plain run, not something I could call a fun time."

"Well it's better than getting sergeant to yell at you all the fucking time."

"So, where's everyone else?"

"Oh, well you'll be going first, mainly because we want to get individual testing done as quickly as possible, once we're through the others will be joining in, and we've got a lot better line up with Andre and Wilkes coming in."

"The two national champions from last year?" Ray recalled them from his memory.

"Yeah, I know, they've got a reputation, but seeing as you wanted a challenge." Keller suggested.

"Its fine, I was actually expecting something like this for a while now." Ray said promptly.

"Were you?" Keller said inquisitively.

"Yeah, real challengers are worth facing down rather than wasting time having to deal with the small fries. Though to be perfectly honest I'm not sure how well you'd measure up to Andres and Wilkes, they're not military, but they are avid Gunpla players, and they have a long history of wins." Ray said thinking over their track record.

"I'll see how they'd fare first before I reserve any judgement."

"Right after we complete the testing, but don't worry it shouldn't take that long. After that, you can indulge in kicking back with some fun."

"If you can call playing against kids and adults really fun." Ray remarked.

"Oh come now, where's the enthusiastic drive of challenging yourself, you set the bar too low for expectations when it comes to playing."

"I dunno, it's just the thrill of piloting in real life is hard to substitute." Ray suggested. "It's been a difficult thing to adjust to."

"Hopefully the national champions will be able to give you something to challenge yourself with."

"I have good expectations there." Ray admitted.

"After the match, want to kick back and catch a couple of beers by the pub?"

"Which one? The Sundown Lake Pub or the one closer to the stadium?"

"Sundown Lake is pretty good, and I've got my membership club." Keller said promptly.

"Neat, sounds like a plan." He said as he stretched his arms upwards with his fingers cracking.

"Alright, you'd better get going, I'll see you from the monitors." Keller said as he left, making a lazy wave as he went down the corridor.

Ray decided to get changed; he entered the locker rooms and found himself the first cubicle which was vacant. He set his bag down and opened it up, dressing into his operator's suit, he did a once over on the battery to make sure it was working properly, the interface seemed all good, despite being used for something like this. The operator's suits were notorious for suffering minor problems from long term storage and so forth, but his had weathered the years pretty well.

As he looked into his assault pack, he removed a large black hexagonal case, his 1/144th scale model stored inside of it. Opening the case from the top, he removed the base and stand on which his model was placed, the model was totally seamless in appearance, no glue residue, damage from the years that he had left it alone.

There were no flash remains from the printing production, and the coat of paint he had laminated was still there, glistening with life, unscathed. Of course he buffed the skin and joints in some sections to clean up some mess from past work, but for the most part it looked as it always had.

The model suit's design was an old one, taken from the Gundam UC era; he had combined the design from the Delta Kai and the Gundam Ex-S MSA-0011, though he only incorporated a few aspects of the Ex-S due to its immense size. He had also made it crucial to include the NITRO+ system to give his unit a serious boost when he needed it, added with the Hydra funnel system, his machine could go toe to toe with fairly heavy machines of larger calibres.

It was fully customised, but not to point it wasn't still based on those two machines, the whole point of the customisations were to improve the systems in a somewhat realistic scenario. Many modifications were based in real world particle physics and quantum physics, though that said, most weren't entirely applicable to real world use so they were implemented through simulation. Hence it was being used here in the stadium, and why Plavsky Particle Systems was licensed to do tests with said system.

This added to the abilities of the Eventide, but didn't give it an overwhelming advantage, seeing as virtually all other opposing machines utilised similar systems like the Eventide, though Eventide was lucky in the sense it had a few customised options for pilot interface, a given for Ray as it helped increase the efficiency of the tests and provide a great deal more feedback for the team's research and development department.

The Ex-Eventide had multiple I-field projectors, just like the Ex-S Gundam was. One mounted into the chest compartment, to provide sufficient protection against beam attacks, as for the rest of the suit, the light mass field projection allowed the machine to generate a protective particle field using light particles generated from the fusion reactor, dispersing energy in a wide area and deflecting impacts.

In space and in atmosphere, the Eventide was given the capacity to fly with the ability to move at ultrahigh speed, without overwhelming the pilot and the machine's structural integrity; this was simulated by the Plavsky particle generator located next to the reactor. For all intents and purposes, it worked like a charm, as it bled off most inertial forces, at least in the simulation.

As a final feature, he also added in ALICE, from the Ex-S Gundam, in hopes she could provide all the assistance he needed, ALICE was the name of his PC Artificial Intelligence, not really smart, but cleaver. It was capable of searching for solutions he inquired about and helped him research topics; she also worked well in sorting through his regular crap of videos and music.

ALICE was with him throughout his military career and received modifications over the years to provide him assistance in the field when necessary, other times she just stayed in the support role to help feed him information and nothing else. For the Eventide, Alice was crucial in tweaking the systems on the Eventide, and helping him to operate some of the more complicated aspects of his machine, as he could only do so much without overwhelming himself.

He also had Alice keep him up to date on information regarding the members of his unit when they were deployed. She kept the record of all the men who died under his command, a reminder of his days gone by, as for what she does these days is largely the same, albeit she just organises his regular schedules.

As he exited the section he turned to the main corridor where he was able to spot a familiar face heading back down, the blonde haired green emerald eyed woman named Christie. She was Keller's assistant, and a truthfully honest bitch, having had a couple of bad experiences with her thanks to her giving him the run around a few times when he was here at the stadium.

He approached her as he knew that she was the one who usually managed the oversight of the testing for Keller.  
"Hey there, are we set to begin?" He asked the woman.

Christie replied with a curt nod. "We're ready, the interface pods are prepared, just follow me, no need to get lost like last time." She said with a rather patronisingly sweet tone.

"Hey that only happened once because somebody forgot to mention that the renovations removed half the direction posts and replaced them with stupid coloured markers which hadn't even been coded then." He said a bit defensively. Truth be told, the woman liked to tease him quite often.

"Semantics, you could have always turned back to the junction to ask for help, but that's just you."

"I'd have asked if you didn't tell me to hurry…" Ray muttered while rolling his eyes.

Together they went to the core chamber where the simulators were located; the area was pretty barren, sporting a large octagonal shaped display system which spans over forty meters across. There were pods located at each pointed edge of the display system; each was endowed with long wired cables and pieces of equipment sticking out of them.

Computer monitors and integrated BIOS computers were running systematic checks and error corrections, there were only three pods which weren't as heavily covered in wires, and this was the blue and dark grey one which had the name and number 'Ex Delta – Ray 01' stencilled onto the side and the others being two white and red and green pods which had indescribable names and words stencilled on.

Ray could only assume those pods were for the two national champions, as for his own pod, the pod was a large circular shaped object with a large canister like object attached to the back. The entire pod was mounted onto a circular shaped base which was designed to pivot and rotate around so the pilot could feel a certain level of simulated reality.

However he wasn't sure if the pivot was going to be used for this test as it looked like it was locked for this test, which wouldn't honestly surprise him. As he went over to the pod, Christie opened up the pod, tapping on a few keys and pressing on the front side of the pod; the hatch popped open with a hiss and lifted upwards.

"Don't tell me you're keeping your bag with you…"

"I feel that it's safer with me, besides it's something I've grown accustomed to whenever I go out." Ray told the attendant.

"Fine, but don't blame me if it goes flying around." Christie said as she tapped on the pod's door and closed it shut.

As the pod shut, Ray went about and got himself strapped in and his bag squared away behind him in a smaller compartment, something he suggested to his old friend when he asked about testing the system. He was thankful he made the small adjustment. As he rolled back into the seat, he pulled out his model and opened up the fore section display scanner; he placed his model within it and put his card into the pod's computer interface.

Hitting the activation key on the interface, the pod began to buzz to life, he took this time to make sure that his operator's suit was connected to the interface on his chair and he did all the pre-sequence tests before he began to interface properly. He pulled the controls up to his body and made sure his hands were in front of him.

The suit then chimed.  
"Plavsky particle simulation activating, please wait…"

The internal structure of the suit formed from a sea of light, particles of bluish white scattered around and took shape, solidifying into panels and the surrounding area of the cockpit, visual displays and suit was soon adorned in a fully panoramic view of a fully simulated cockpit. A truly familiar feeling for Ray as he slid back into his seat, his hands glossing over the surface of the suit, just as he would when he got his next machine.

This habit was normal for him, having lived a life bound in military service; he had become accustomed to the start-up sequence procedures. Though he really hated it when he was in a rush, it was a pain in the ass when you were dealing with a variety of problems, and it could cost you your life in a real combat situation, something he learnt on a few occasions from seeing how machines were destroyed by enemy RPG fire concentrated on a unit which was in the process of starting up.

'Come to think of it, I had a few close calls back then as well, until I got my augmentations.' He recalled.

Augmentations were a costly but invaluable asset when it came to mobile weapon platforms, the system ensured that a pilot could be able to respond faster to emergency situations. Bypassing the normal start up procedures of the machine, the operator could directly reroute the controls of their machine through their implant. This is risky as the pilot would experience a flood of information, and potential risk of feedback could cause sensory overloads.

It wasn't uncommon for pilots to start having nosebleeds or later haemorrhages in their brains thanks to the augmentations, it was a risky proposition, and most would leave their machines on standby to negate having to go through the entire start up, even if it meant draining some power needed for operation.

There was always a gamble when it came to using these sorts of systems, but for those that could take the risk, it was usually worth having it. For Ray, he knew from experience that suffering a little bit of pain in order to get into action was crucial, though inadvisable; many operators like him did it.

An undeniable edge in combat was a small price to pay, even if it did hurt, and he knew that there were far worse instances than just being on the receiving end of some sharp feedback. During the war, many of them ended up having to fight outside their machines; conflicts were prone to such actions.

More than a few of his fellow operators were wounded or killed in doing so, mainly because they were performing various tasks, from securing strategic locations to tactical manoeuvres. It was how they all faced it in the same way, necessary risks in war, and such their lives were put on the line outside of their machines.

As the pain dulled away, he turned his attention to the monitor and did a quick check on his vital signs, to make sure nothing was wrong. Afterwards he signalled to Keller in the control room.  
"I'm set to go, all systems are nominal."

"Alright Ray, we're loading scenario Delta-5, no need for the foreplay, we're going right into it." Keller stated as the technicians went to work.

The area was a clearing in the middle of space, with a few ruined space colonies and what looked like some sort of space fortress.  
"Simulation begins in 30…"

"We tweaked this one from before, and added a few heavy hitters to the mix, hope you don't mind." Keller said enthusiastically.

"There's nothing to fuss over on this, I've got this." Ray said confidently, he was sure about what he expected of this battle.

"Good, the AMX-107 Rewooba custom is also going in this one, mind you we're using the simulated characters from in series, so you have a real challenge. Also we may have thrown a couple of curve balls so be mindful of those." Keller told him.

"I look forward to seeing what you've got." Ray replied with a grin.

"There's the enthusiasm I was looking for." Keller said with a chuckle.

"So when did the simulation start including this battlefield?"

"It's just something from one of the manga's that were made on the second Neo-Zeon war period, after Char's counterattack."

"I see, wait, did you include the Sleeves for this or not?"

"You'll have to wait and see, for the most part, the simulation is basically the same as before, but with added elites and changing battle tactics on the game, so you'll be in a situation which is constantly changing, hopefully it'll help give us plenty of feedback."

As the line closed, Ray turned his attention to the battle unfolding, there was a lot to do, but he determined on getting started. His Eventide sped off into the now active battlefield, thousands of light glimmering from the vast array of explosions, mobile suits and ships destroyed by beam fire. As simulated as it was, this was as real as he'd get to a space battle, at least in his lifetime. Ray's interface reacted accordingly and he was able to perform quite well, as he was used to the Eventide's control system.

In the simulated battle he turned his attention to the nearest neo-Zeon mobile dolls which were closing distance in on the scattered GM units. The exchange was sort of predictable, as the GMs were stock models and armed with standard loadouts, so they weren't special in any case. He turned into the battle, to support the GMs and wipe out the neo-Zeon machines as quickly as possible.

His first shots went wide and only chased a few of the machines away, he then managed to zero in on the ones which were scattering, aiming for the heaviest machines first, he cut down each machine with relative ease before turning his attention back to the rest, this time with the GMs predictably trying to pin them into a corner.

This exchange of fire was quite one sided as Ray managed to down three more machines, his shots as precise as ever, even without the need of his thrusters to help compensate for turn or drift. He made precise movements to avoid getting caught in the range of the neo-Zeon units. It wasn't long before they wiped the suits out, with moderate losses.

His attention was more focused on the asteroid fortress than anything else, it seemed like the focus of the battle was there, and he'd get to throw himself into a fight which would give him plenty of things to do. Ray turned around, Eventide transforming into flight mode before heading into the brutal melee occurring around the asteroid fortress.

In the battle, he could see various mobile suit types, with mobile armour providing fire support, the fighting was pretty solid, with machines forming team orchestrated engagements, with a vast array of fire being exchanged in the process. This looked like the battle of one of Mu colonies, though he could be wrong, it was hard to say.

Needless to say this battle was expectedly haphazard as fuck, with more explosions and the constant exchange of fire between Zeon and Federation forces, the difference was that these were Neo Zeon and later Federation forces. Most ships were the later 0096 era machines, so there was plenty of variety to be seen, though most battles weren't this large.

'I guess it's to be expected when it comes to Keller's idea of a truly immersive experience.' He thought as his machine continued to move through the battlefield, gunning down a couple of unlucky machines in his way.

The battle intensified as he helped push their attack on the Neo Zeon forces, his encounter with opposition was expected, mostly regulars with officers and the one Neo Zeon mobile armour which tried to gut his unit. He made a quick turn and gut the unit across from front to end, his reward was a brilliant explosion.

A burst of beam fire sent him reeling, his suit's display brought up a warning alert of a new enemy having entered his battle space. His attention turned towards what was coming at him.  
"Incoming unit, silhouette, AMX-107." Alice chimed as his unit dodged another barrage of beam shots.

"So, she's here is she?" He asked aloud as he made a twist and turn before heading towards the approaching red mobile suit.

He turned his attention to his nine o'clock position and made a sharp turn to bring his beam weapon to bear, the transforming two stage mobile suit reacted as such, twisted into a cone before coming right at him. As it did such, he unleashed his machine's missile pods; he knew that he couldn't pin this unit down off the bat.

The missiles split around the unit and managed to force it into a sort of corner, the AMX-107 attempted to shoot down the missiles, without success. He then fired off his beam rifle and struck two of the missiles closest in formation of each other, in moments each missile detonated the other in a chain reaction of detonations.

This act, forced the AMX-107 to pull back from getting caught up in the blast, this also bought Ray enough time to transform and get out of the way of the AMX-107's range, this calculated move was right on the mark as he knew that the AMX-107 was customised along with the AI installed in it, meaning the pilot knew how to react to his attack.

Of course this wasn't the only thing he noted, but during the attack, he wasn't sure, but he was getting this feeling that he wasn't alone in this simulation anymore. He got around and made a beeline for the nearby space fortress, he knew that it wouldn't be a good idea for him to stay out here with so many potential threats.

Not to mention he was suspecting that if he had stayed out, he'd be attacked directly by the Rebawoo, and if his hunch was correct, he'd end up cornered. And he didn't want to waste energy in engaging just one mobile suit, as well as breaking his promise of restricting the use of his special one off abilities in simulated battle.

In any event, he made every effort to match the unit in terms of reaction; he had switched the beam setting to rapid fire and unleashed a short controlled burst in a spread to drive off the Rebawoo. Though he didn't have much luck, the unit managed to weave through his shots and circle around from his left side, using the debris field to block his view.

He immediately knew that this meant that they were probably going to try and flank him while using the debris field. A smart move, but he could predict the movement of the enemy suit. In his mind the best way to deal with them would be to quickly outmanoeuvre them in the debris field and lay into the machine before it could meet his attack.

Pushing down on the accelerator, he manoeuvred quickly around the asteroids, hugging the ground as close as possible while scanning his sectors for indications of the Rebawoo. He was rewarded by the sight of the suit's red armour as it hid behind an asteroid exactly parallel to his position. He knew there were multiple ways to hit this suit, but he chose to use the asteroids as an anchoring point so he could circle around.

Firing a pair of anchors into the surface and allowing him to make a rapid traversal of the asteroid, he released the anchors as the got around, he circled around and spotted the Rebawoo, or at least what he thought was the Rebawoo. He was almost ready to fire when he realised the suit was immobile.

"What the hell?" He said as he realised the dummy.

"It's a decoy."

"I can see that." Ray said as he moved the Eventide toward the dummy.

He came in close and took a closer examination, the dummy was tied down to the asteroid, he backed away, but he knew that there were asteroids bouncing around him. And out from behind one, there out popped a missile barrage, wide spread over an area, surrounding him. Ray didn't have much else to do but curse.

As he used his head mounted CIWS guns, he eyeballed the approach vectors and input the targeting information and let loose. He destroyed all six of the missiles, but the explosive force shoved his back to the asteroid, and the dummy. As he got close enough, the dummy suddenly exploded in a fireball.

"Explosive gas!" Alice yelled.

"I noticed." Ray snapped as he was thrown about.

As the explosive washed over the Eventide, Ray realised that he was a sitting duck, but he wasn't sure which direction to take, moving in this field while blind left him open to attack and going out with the Rebawoo waiting, it also risked him getting shot up. He determined his next course of action, he knew sitting around was a big risk, so he decided there was only one thing to do.

He slammed the accelerator as he exited the cloud, his suit's sensors on the lookout, he did his utmost to avoid getting caught like that again.

"Alice, where is it?" He asked as he attempted to regain visual on his surroundings.

"Behind you." Alice said promptly.

He inwardly cursed as he immediately turned to face the incoming machine, the Rebawoo's pilot managed to predict his approach and set a trap for him. Using a decoy so that it could get into melee range without him being able to counter quickly or manoeuvre out of the way. He activated his wrist beam blade and countered the strike before using his machine's thrusters to throw his weight around.

The movement managed to throw off balance the Rebawoo and give him some measure of leverage, this effort was rewarded with a reactionary slash in an attempt to strike him, though he managed to dodge the strike, he couldn't retaliate as his unit was still too close, not to mention surrounded by asteroids.

Their machines were locked in a struggle for supremacy, one red and one blue, the two were determined to outmatch the other, and neither had a great deal of success. Ray was being shoved back, and so he let the Rebawoo pilot throw them towards the nearest asteroid. As they got closer, Ray suddenly hit the secondary thrusters and his left side burners, making a sharp twist.

They suddenly broke out of their deadlock, and the Rebawoo was thrown at the asteroid, slamming into it. Ray drew his beam rifle out once more and dumped a burst of high powered shots into the asteroid; he narrowly missed his intended target. Cutting two massive holes and slicing open a line across the surface.

As he pulled away, the Rebawoo did likewise and fled out of range, laying down a barrage of beam shots and a few missiles. Ray decided to go on the offensive, and pursue the red Rebawoo. He transformed again and then continued on in flight mode, his speed and higher manoeuvrability allowing him to make sharp turns around asteroids and so forth.

He made a dash from the corner of one asteroid, leaving a trail of beam fire in his wake, his shots were dead on point, hitting hard with everything he could muster. His attacks managed to force the Rebawoo back momentarily before it moved above his axis and let loose a missile and a barrage of beam shots.

He turned away rapidly, making a corner turn and an upwards barrel roll before coming down from the flank of the offending machine. He transformed and got loose, laying down another barrage of shots, his beam fire cutting through the void. But much to his luck he couldn't land a good shot, the pilot seeing through it.

They closed distance quickly, he had no choice but to use his NITRO+, he knew that this pilot would stop at nothing to down him, and he wasn't planning on giving up. That stubborn part of him kicked into overdrive as he responded, allowing his augmentations to take over and his synchronisation with the Eventide to activate.

His NITRO system would be able to compensate for the Rebawoo's obvious psycho-frame which was making a lot of waves. The trouble was that he felt strange; his head had tinnitus ringing aloud, like someone was holding a bell next to his ear. Ray's implants began to hurt, not like when he overclocked the interface system in combat or when his suit's interface had an overload of feedback, no. This entire sensation was different.  
"AGH!" He grunted through his teeth as his mind felt a sharp pain.

A voice then emerged, in his mind.  
'Who are you?'

"What?" He grunted as his mind reasserted control.

"System alert, abnormal brainwave patterns detected." Ray heard Alice respond.

His body reacted and he knocked the Rebawoo away from him, only to see it suddenly reorient itself parallel to him. Its eye glowed before it reached out towards him; he felt his mind ping with pain. The image of someone's face appeared before him, a masked woman appeared with glowing red glasses.  
"You, you are Gundam, my enemy!"

"What?" He grunted as his head burned.

"Gundam!" He heard them scream.

"Oh for the love of fucking…" Ray pulled his machine back and slipped out his wrist beam sabre to counter.

His attack was met by a beam sabre from the Rebawoo which then used its thrusters and threw the weight of its body around to force him away. This tactic worked well enough and Ray found himself suddenly facing open space, instinctively he used his machine's transformation mode and made an angular turn away from the Rebawoo's projected attack manoeuvre.

He was right on the money when a beam sabre nearly clipped his machine's body; this attack method was something he learnt from past engagements against opposing Gunpla players, during the nationals. They were highly skilled players who could accurately predict the movement of their enemies.

It wasn't thanks to some magical ability or bullshit empathic abilities, but their predicted moves based on their own experience and tactics. He got away before this unit could pin him, and besides, he needed time to recuperate from his experience, his head was ringing from the encounter and he didn't want to risk getting downed.

As he prepared himself the Rebawoo came back at him.

XXXXX

Keller noted the strange fluctuations on the system monitors.  
"Hey what's with all these spikes?" The administrator demanded.

The head technician looked over the data and frantically tapped on the consoles before replying.  
"The system's having some fluctuations, like the Zero system input from last month, we're not sure, but it's causing a lot of feedback with the simulated DIVA unit."

"Can you shut it down?" Keller said as he looked at the monitors.

The technician sifted through the system before replying. "We're attempting to sir, but it's not that easy, the DIVA's been plugged directly into the core of the stadium's server, it'll take a while to cut it cleanly."

Flashing screens appeared as the various systems began to pick up on errors, this time they were a lot more alarming. The display brought up an imprint of the DIVA system and Ray's own neural interface, the system seemed to be making some sort of comparative examination, the DIVA's use of the psycho-frame was trying to use Ray's own mind as a basis for itself.

"What the hell is that?"

"I don't know, it's like the system's gone berserk, the DIVA's subroutines are trying to copy Lieutenant Hyung's neural imprints, like a flash copy."

"What?"

"I don't know what to say sir, this has never occurred before, all the tests we performed from before never indicated the AI attempting to use the psychoframe system in such a manner.

"So what the hell is this thing trying to do with Ray's brain?"

"It's trying to copy it, in a manner of speaking, that's how the DIVA's AI was programmed, we installed a means of learning, but it seems to have gone well beyond the set parameters, it's currently attempting to directly imprint itself with the Lieutenant's memories."

"How the hell did it react to Ray's presence like this?"

"We're not sure, it could have been the psycho field or the AI's own programming gone rampant, we can only hypothesise at this moment." The technician said as the battle continued.

XXXXX

The Rebawoo was fast, not like an elite unit in the simulations, but closer to an actual pilot's level of skill, based on the response time and the fact that it was actually quite skilled in operation, being able to use the environment and the abilities of the Rebawoo to its full extent, it made sense that this mobile suit's AI was closer on par with himself.

"Alice, can you analyse the attack pattern?" He asked as he took a moment to breathe.

"I have completed preliminary observations, the pilot is highly skilled, more so than a normal operator. Judging by their ability to retaliate in response to your advances, it has been able to adapt and counter extremely quickly." Alice said as she continued to examine their battle.

"So, what sort of system are we looking at?" He asked as he propelled himself and countered a strike.

"Adaptive one, high tier level of complexity, Generation 3 or above in terms of development." Alice managed to determine through observation.

"I knew it; it wasn't just a normal AI. It's a D.I.V.A!" He said as he pulled his unit from the attack.

His senses were in overdrive as he activated his neural implant system to 100%, normally he wouldn't do this, but when faced with something that was using a newtype psycho frame like it, it was pretty dangerous to let his guard down. But there was also something else going on, he didn't know what, but in the moment he was engaged in the melee with the unit, while its psycho-frame was active, he felt something from it.

Luger Lugh was the archetype for the pilot operating the machine; however he wasn't sure how well they replicated the pilot operator. The abilities of adding in Luger Lugh and the DIVA system was something he hadn't expected, he knew that it was one of the best AI systems devised over the years in Japan, but he didn't think they'd throw this in so soon.

Seeing as he wanted to fight a real challenger, Keller decided to omit this little bit of information for the sake of keeping the surprise for later, that or he was pulling a fast one on Ray to see how quick he'd be able to respond to being thrown a curve ball. It wasn't surprising how the former technician had a habit of doing this out of the blue.

Regardless, this unit was very apt in beating the crap out of him despite his unconventional tactics in drawing it into the one place it didn't have as much flexibility. His assault talons were good in diverting its attention away from him, but it didn't work any longer as it could exit the debris field and reorient itself in another position.

'It's damn good…' He thought as he continued to chase after the machine.

Ray knew that he had to pull all stops on this one, as DIVA was designed to learn from him and advance, it hadn't used its special one off ability like his machine, but he could tell, it'd do so now. And his guess was correct as the Rebawoo began to change colour, its suit had a psycho-frame installed and it was clearly prepared for battle.

"Shit, here it comes!" He said as he gritted his teeth, he pulled his suit around as he immediately detected the incoming shots from the Rebawoo, the first and second shots clipped the debris he was hiding behind, and it was soon followed by a barrage of missiles.

The Rebawoo was learning fast, and it had already discerned his position with the psycho-frame, whatever happened before when he and the machine engaged in battle, he wasn't sure, but it was alarming the hell out of him. He managed to pull away and retaliate with his beam Lancer, but the suit dodged quickly, making a beeline for him.

But then he heard a voice in his head.  
"There you are, Gundam!"

'What the fuck is going on with this simulation?' He thought as he dodged the immediate threat of getting lanced through the cockpit by beam fire, he retaliated accordingly and nearly grazed the outer armour of the suit, but the pilot's reflex was fast and they unleashed a hail of beam blasts.

'Damn it, this isn't like any AI I've ever fought." He thought grimly as he charged in beam rifle laying down suppressive fire.

He knew that he had other abilities which could be useful, but in this situation it was way more risky than simply buying time for Keller to fix the system. And he knew that using other abilities like his one off I field, or the use of the mega particle cannon were definitely not good ideas. The environment was too crowded, and with the asteroid belt the mega particle cannon had a higher probability of hitting something aside from the Rebawoo.

He instead used his funnel; Alice had taken over from this point, as she could make the funnels commit to fast strikes and better accuracy than his own mind. His blue and white funnels worked, making a series of turns and corners surrounding the red suit from multiple directions and laying down fire.

Rebawoo wasn't giving it up though, its pursuit was as he expected, unrelenting. He twisted about unleashing a burst from his lancer beam rifle before he made a sudden turn and brought his machine into flight mode and did a flip, gunning the thrusters to push him in a conical turn to avoid getting hit by the Rebawoo's beam weapons.

His funnels pursuing after the offending machine from behind, keeping their presence around through short attacks from the blind spot of the Rebawoo. The trouble was that the Rebawoo had a newtype archetype pilot which meant she could predict his attacks with relative ease. The shots couldn't pin the Rebawoo down.

His body felt the acceleration from the sheer number of evasive manoeuvres he was making; he knew that his body could only handle so much before it reached its threshold the trouble was that he wasn't sure about whether or not the safety protocols were in place anymore. Seeing as how the entire system was a mess with a renegade Rebawoo pilot copy using a highly advanced artificial intelligence to operate, this could only end badly.

As the got around to retaliating, the operator of the red machine managed to use their one off ability, sending a burst of psychic energy outwards and disrupting his funnels ability to operate. He cursed as he couldn't call them back. He knew a bad situation when he saw one, and he could tell this was going to be a cluster fuck.

He braced himself as the red machine got up and personal, he couldn't get out of the way faster as he was surrounded by asteroids, he attempted to make a series of quick shifts by propelling himself across the surface of the asteroids, but the Rebawoo had gotten too close for him to avoid. The red machine lashed out and he had to counter.

The feeling of the icy cold pick digging into the back of his head was worse than before, and it was costing him focus. His hands were gripped to the controls and his skin started to feel like someone was submerging it into freezing cold water. He slammed away and hit the Rebawoo before angrily commenting.

"Why don't you go and fuck yourself you crazed bitch, don't you have anything better to be doing?" He asked in annoyance.

"Shut up, Gundams are the enemy!" The woman yelled across the com channel.

"Yeah, and I've got a bottle of whiskey which says that you're off your fucking rocker." He retorted before slamming his thrusters and making a mid-action break before he used his arm to swing his body around to make an abrupt adjustment in course.

"Die damn you!" The woman shouted as she lashed out.

She sliced the space where the Eventide had been until Ray made his adjustment and swung around to hit her across the side and throw her unit back, he then unleashed his CIWS machine guns and spayed the head of the Rebawoo with shots, momentarily blinding the unit. He knew it wouldn't last long and went in for a quick strike against the body of the suit, his beam sabre nearly taking the collar of the suit off.

"I won't fall that easily!" The pilot yelled as she grabbed him.

Their machines were once again locked together, Ray was trying to swing his unit's legs around, but the beam sabre wouldn't activate. No doubt due to the Rebawoo's special ability to disrupt equipment and technology within a limited proximity thanks to its psycommu. This wasn't really the issue though; the issue was the damned machine was determined to strangle him to death.

The two were locked in a direct encounter, each machine charged with energies, generating a seemingly endless flow of light within the proximity around them. Ray wasn't sure what in the hell was going on, but he could tell that this effect wasn't part of the simulation, he attempted to reach out to Alice and get her to sever the connection between him and the system, but he felt his voice silence before he could even open his mouth.

He attempted a direct neural interface with Alice, but diving into the system proved difficult and the feedback he was receiving was too much for him to accurately determine what was going on, like everything was drowned in a blurry haze of thoughts and expressions. His body felt like a lead weight, this feeling continued to persist despite his best efforts.

His mind was gradually swallowed by a darkness which seemed to surround him in this sea of light and he eventually lost consciousness.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Waking Moments…

…Darkness

Darkness surrounded him, there was little to no noise, besides the dulled thrum of the massive carrier transport's engines, propelling the transport through the air. Ray's cap was on his face, giving him an impression of utter darkness, he slept soundly comfortable, or as comfortable as a military operator could inside of the cockpit of an AMAF unit.

He hadn't been able to sleep properly over the last week since he had spent the majority of it getting his unit platoon prepared for deployment, that and completing the report he misfiled on an engagement with a group of insurgents near Cebu, where he had gotten into quite a bit of trouble for misidentifying the local national army for the insurgents. In any event, he had to go over the mess for the last days on top of his work schedule, not something he'd want to do again any time soon.

"Hey, Ray, wake the fuck up mate." A voice called as a sudden sound of rapping followed.

Ray didn't stir at first, ignoring the tapping, it was only when someone opened up the cockpit hatch that he started to wake.  
Of course he got a friendly wake up call before that happened. "AGH!" He yelped as he felt something hit his face.

"That got your attention." He heard the other man chuckling.

The other man was Christopher Newton, the sergeant of his mechanised unit, he was the third operator, and he was the third in command. Chris was Sydney born, stuck up cunt who kept thinking he was hot shit until he got into a fight and thrown in jail. He wound up doing four years, thanks to the collateral damage inflicted by his car accidently crashing into a street side shop and a nearby power line.

He had this commuted within three months when he signed up for military service, instead of having to pay a hefty fine and serve four years in jail, and commit to multiple years doing community service for multiple road side and public offences. He chose to serve in the military until he could cover all of it.

The young NCO joined the same time Ray was assigned to the platoon, the military seemed to have straightened Chris out, for the most part, but he still caused his own kind of mischief whenever he could. He wasn't the worst kind of person to be with honestly, he could be a bit overbearing as a squad leader, but he was quick to make decisions, and most of them were good calls, though he had a tendency to commit hard to an attack.

"What the fuck Chris, you could just tap me on the damn knee!" Ray snapped as he woke up grumpy, then again he was hit in the face by a ration pack.

"Hey don't shoot the messenger; we've got final briefing and checks in a few minutes." Chris promptly said with an abject shrug.

"Already? Jesus…" Ray said while he cracked his fingers and arms with a stretch.

"Yeah, the Colonel sure wants to make us memorise our objectives and LZs, in any case you better get up man, I'd rather not have to drag your ass over there."Chris said while he jumped from the lip of the cockpit.

"Fucking hell, we've been doing this for four years now, you'd think we'd already be used to having to roll in and take out their caches and staging sites." Ray said whilst he unseated himself.

"Yeah, but punctuality mate, come on." Chris said while impatiently tapping on the top of the cockpit hatch.

Ray exited his machine and jumped down onto the primary bay of the Austral Skyline AU-2/CV military variant, his boots making a deep thud as he landed. The cargo/deployment bay was massive; it was a little bigger than the next largest aircrafts such as the Russian Antonov An-225 Mriya, or the American Boeing C-8 Strata Millennium. Though the C-8 and Skyline were military, and they had larger capacity intended for carrying AMAFs.

It gave plenty of space for their machines and the operators, though it still seemed a little cramped it wasn't nearly as bad as trying to shove them into a Boeing HTC-180 Atlas cargo planes, those were cramped and could only just fit 4 machines in a single file, and had little space for movement besides having to crawl on the side railings of the interior just to move up and down.

Moving beyond the bustle of engineers and technicians, they reached the forward compartment where the troops were gathered, a full platoon of men in armoured BDU's, all of them AMAF operators. And the others which were Australian commandos, partially dressed in their BDU's and combat gear.  
The two of them made their way over the front end of the gathered bodies where the other officers and their NCOs were gathered around, the briefing was about ready to start when they took their spots. Ray and Christopher had to stay standing as they hadn't enough room for anyone else.

Thanks to space meant for their machines they didn't have enough to spare for the rest of the men to have a proper briefing room, not like they really needed it when it came to this sort of thing. Regardless the crew chiefs worked alongside what personnel were available, doing their utmost to complete the maintenance checks before the operation began.

Their platoon commander stood besides the digital display he had set up for the briefing, his appearance was that of a calm and composed officer, rank and file colonel. "Gentlemen, good to see we're all here, conditions over our DZ are mostly clear, so we've got optimal drop conditions. However I'd like to make it abundantly clear that this will not be our standard operation. Division Intelligence has directed us for a new set of objectives." The man said as he brought up the geographical layout of their new AO. The gathered men seemed to grumble at this bit of news. Ray and Chris both looked on without much thought, as they had seen this stunt pulled a few times before.

"I thought this was going to be our usual song and dance?" One officer inquired, clearly disgruntled by this change in their plan.

It was clear many of them hadn't been expecting this sudden change of their operation, especially when this involved dealing with insurgents. The platoon commander made it known that this wasn't what they were expecting either.  
"No, not this time, HQ felt that this was only to be revealed once we reached the final stretch, our mission tonight isn't going to be a simple raid. Mission parameters have changed, I know this sounds pretty fucking rushed and believe me, I'd have argued their methodology, but we don't have much of a choice."

His switched the board's display to one of their target objective and their given operational parameter.  
"This is target site, Delta, as you can all see this isn't the regular targets we're normally used to going after. This is a listening post, insurgent's had some help from the Chinese, again, this one is a little more elaborate though, it was intended to act as a long range listening post for the insurgents in Palawan." He explained as he bought up a fully details map of the area in question.

They all studied it as quickly as they could and memorised the site.  
"The listening post isn't fully active as of yet, but it will be within a week, normally we'd have let the air force deal with this, however they can't make an approach thanks to the location of the listening post and the fact that there are six SAM sites plus a suspect number of specialised hunter AMAFs within the area, they've got more than enough firepower to deter any attempt at a surgical strike."

"So what's our plan?" Another officer inquired.

"We're going in by foot, along the ridges from the two drop zones; eliminate any and all opposition as fast as we can, hit the sites and if we can, we deal with the listening post. If it's too hot then it doesn't matter, we just need to eliminate most of the SAM sites and whatever AMAF anti-air units they got positioned around it, as long as we can deal as much damage as possible, the higher the success rate for the Air Force to strike the post." He told them all.

"Sir. What sorts of resistance are we expected to face?" The lieutenant in charge of Huntsman team 2 asked.

"Depends, for the most part we'd be facing regulars, nationalists armed with usual gear, though further inland we do suspect that there is a detachment of MAF units located in the hills near objective bravo and sigma, they're expected to be packing heat."He replied promptly.

"What about air cover? Will we have any available close air support?" Ray inquired from the back of the crowd.

"Only a few drones, ordinance will be limited to only a handful of strikes, so be mindful of what you're calling down, as we can't muster anything more afterwards, and air support is going to be unavailable." The commander replied.

"Rally point Lima is a rather open location, I'm assuming this is because it's we're heading in and out as quickly as possible?" Someone else asked.

"Essentially, the target locations for extraction aren't far away so these rally locations aren't as subtle in terms of area, we're expected to quickly get in and get back out. Whether or not this will impact the mission has yet to be seen, but considering circumstances, it'd work for us."

"Yeah hope to god the nationalists don't figure out how to deduct our location from the obvious." Ray said to Chris from behind the crowd.

This new mission plan which their intelligence department had been kind enough to provide without warning seemed like one hell of an operation, for something which was meant to be unrelated. It was too late to back out now though, for obvious reasons. The decision was made and they had to accept it.

The briefing continued until they got through all their queries on the mission, for the members of the force this seemed like a reasonable operation, for Ray and Chris this was another rush job on part of intelligence. Their intended objective for securing vital objectives was a nice way of saying that this order came down in a hurry and so they had no time to prepare fully, only do what they could with what they had, even if it carried a higher risk.

Despite all of this rush, they were expected to pull off this mission successfully and get back out alive, even if it meant shooting their way through more trouble than they could afford. In the end, it was just another day in the field, whether they liked it or not, these orders were to be followed, and they would do just that.

Once the meeting was concluded, the members of the mobile armoured frame corps headed to their machines. Ray and Christopher continued to talk about the upcoming mission; this feeling of apprehension seemed to linger for Ray, different reasons though. As they went back to their machines, the two discussed the whole mission briefing at length.

"We have an hour to hit our targets and four hours to get to the extraction point, don't make any mistakes, we're going in as fast as we can, and getting out together. If all else goes to hell, we pull out then and there." Ray surmised in his head as he went over the objectives.

"Hey Ray, I guess we got the short end of this stick eh?" Chris said casually whilst they walked back to their units.

"I don't think of it that way, we've always been getting dropped into knee deep level of shit, I don't think this would be any different." Ray replied honestly.

"True, at least we know that this time we have an excuse if something goes wrong." Chris added.

Ray chuckled at the remark, truth be told when something went wrong, they had to accept that responsibility, at least in the sense of human error or lack of preparation. In any other event, they knew that there was no such excuse, and the realities of a real screw up will cost them lives in the long run.

They got back to their machines along the narrow crawlspace; most of the other operators were already boarding their machines and preparing to get ready for the drop. Ray waved off Chris to go and check in with the others before they finished up final checks and began their drop, he knew the drill, despite what their objective was, the same protocols applied, they had to get ready for the shit they were about to step right into.

Upon his machine, he clambered in from the step ladder, making sure not to smack his head up the open hatch, once he squeezed himself into the cockpit; he pushed himself down into the chair and reacquainted himself with the seat. Still warm from his departure, he tapped on the control and brought the hatch down, so he could get the final checks completed.

As the hatch to his unit closed, he felt the cool sensation of his direct nervous interface system locking back into place, the sharp sensation of the interface coming online, the sting was something that took a great deal of getting used to, not something you'd want to experience regularly. But the moment it interfaced with him, he felt a sharp stinging sensation, and a beeping noise.

His eyes cracked wide awake as he felt the familiar feeling of a defibrillator hit him.

XXXXX

A blinding flash of light was the first thing he felt when his eyes opened, his senses were flooding back into his head, and he felt dizzy.  
"ARGH!" His body shuddered as he regained his senses.

The emergency revival system was pumping him with adrenaline and shocking his heart back into rhythm, as he regained awareness of everything around him, he noted that he was sitting in his MAF cockpit. No, that wasn't right… he was in the cockpit of the Ex-Eventide.

"The Eventide!" He gasped as he breathed normally.

His throat was dry; no doubt from being unconscious in his Vector suit, his eyes zipped about trying to determine what was going on.  
"Am I in space?" He mouthed quietly tried to push himself backwards.

He drifted about, the feeling of zero-gee was definitely there, he could tell this was no simulation, in the tournament they used simulated microgravity, enough that someone could get re-seated without throwing up. This was perfectly simulated zero-gees, it was that and the fact that his thermal indicator on his suit was telling him that the cockpit's temperature was at zero, this meant primary life support system was offline, he'd be pretty screwed right about now if he didn't have his operator's suit.

His suit kept him alive and warm, but it would eventually run out of power, at least within the next three days if he didn't have anything else with him. His disorientation faded as he pulled himself off from the top of his machine, pushing down he landed on his seat. His eyes struggled to find the harness for the suit; he eventually found where it was and closed it around his waist.

"Alright, rebooting systems…" He said as he began to hit the control systems for the suit.

It took him about a minute to restart the suit's operating system again and bring main power back online, as the suit's systems returned to normal; he was greeted by the flash of the OS display on the panoramic interface system. His display changed to a full view of outer space, and it didn't look like where he was before.

There was no sign of the Neo-Zeon fortress or the location of the two destroyed space colonies, no this looked much like just open space, and there was no Rebawoo despite the fact that they were literally gripped together in hand to hand melee. Whatever the hell happened to him, he wasn't sure, but it looked like things were wildly outside his comfort zone.

"Rayleigh, it's good to see that you're up and about." Alice chimed as she sounded a sigh of relief.

That action immediately sounded alarms in his head; Alice never used inflections in her responses or expressions, usually droning on with calm yet rather dull responses, in most situations only providing him with company to talk to rather than anything else. He didn't recall her ever developing a personality all that much, besides the one which he had been familiar with since their introduction.

"ALICE, are you online?" He asked perplexed, he wasn't sure, but it seemed like the appropriate response.

The interface of his unit took a moment to come back to life, Alice's voice suddenly came over the com. "I'm here, I was worried there for a second, and your initial recovery took longer than I had anticipated." The AI said while bringing his vitals up on the right hand monitors of his suit. "All vitals are stable, suit pressure normal. Blood pressure a little high, but well within acceptable levels, it seems you've rode through that wave and came out unscathed." Alice noted with a sense of diligence before adding. "You haven't suffered any internal trauma or suffered any minute lapses in response, so it seems as though you're fine."

"ALICE, are you alright?" He inquired as he noted that Alice never talked this much unless he prompted it.

"Fine, why?" The AI replied perplexed.

"I don't recall you ever having… well, any complex level of responses, that or having any significant level of emotions. I didn't even prompt you with a question and yet you seem almost consistent in the way you speak." He said honestly, he knew that there was a potential issue with ALICE's cognitive abilities.

"I'm not sure what you're referring to, I've been responding well within my parameters, I am set up to be your AI after all, I act as your companion, as per the agreement we settled upon when you first accepted me as your AI." Alice said as if reciting some kind of personal contract.

'Why the hell does this sound so familiar?' He thought back to something he read.

'Oh hell…" He recalled something from the Gundam Ex-S series, regarding the inclusion of AIs.

AIs like ALICE for the Gundam Ex-S were designed to act as the pilot's support, but relied heavily on the pilot to develop their abilities, and seeing as how he had ALICE for nearly seven years of his life, it began to dawn on him that she might have been referring to that. How in the hell she had suddenly adapted to this is beyond him.

He knew better than to bring up their past, but he decided to check this out later, he was worried it might cause complications while he was still in the machine. And he figured to play it carefully when dealing with AIs, but he wanted to learn more before he made any final decision on Alice's complete status.

But for now, he had to put faith in his AI, and hope that she doesn't suffer any sort of complications, she might turn out like Cortana from Halo… no scratch that, that's a horrible example. More accurately she'd be sort of like the ALICE of the original Ex-S Gundam, which would be great, but hopefully she wouldn't suffer restrictions in interacting with people or it might prove problematic.

He pushed aside the thought for the time being as he looked around at the console displays bringing up feedback on the status of his machine.  
"Alright, well, forgoing any further inquiry, I need to begin systems check. Is the Eventide still operational?" He asked as he looked around.

"Dual-fusion reactor is operational, light mass particle generation system is operational, and sensor package for the Delta Ex-Eventide is functional though it is picking up a high level of disruption. Life support system is functional, combat systems are functional, particle repair systems are functional." The AI listed off one by one.

"Light mass fabricator systems are working?" He said as he recalled the Plavsky Particle Generator systems.

"Yes, the fabrication system seems to be working at nominal levels." Alice informed him.

"Okay, well I don't need to worry about energy or repairs for the time being." He said as he thought over the capabilities of his machine. 'Food and water's limited to whatever I have in my assault pack right now.'

It was possible to make what he needed from using the mass fabrication system, such as food and water, but they needed a parameter and a method of production, which of course his machine didn't possess at this moment, so it was off the table. He'd have to stick it out with the food he had on him for the time being.

"I'd advise to avoid taking significant levels of damage to your suit, the systems were never intended to withstand catastrophic levels of damage, and can only sustain repairs over a period of time, with full dedication of power and OS dedicated to such function." She advised him.

"I got it; the suit can only withstand a certain level of damage before it reaches its total threshold." He said as he checked on the total integrity of his suit, the damage received from his fight with the Rebawoo was minimal, and he could see that things were operating at comfortable levels.

He experimentally flexed the arms and legs of his machine, and just like in the simulation they moved and reacted according to his neural commands, the feedback response was consistent, the overload from the event didn't cause damage, so he was good. His body felt the responses, like they were an actual part of his body; the simulation normally didn't take it to this level as it could only simulate so much of the actual scenario.

The suit's operating system was functioning at nominal levels and there seemed to be nothing to catch his attention. He called to Alice.  
"Alice, display visual analysis of surrounding area, can you calculate our current position?"

"We are current between location, further out in the solar system beyond the orbit of the moon, somewhere near designated location L3 and L5 in the solar system, according to the data I'm able to compile." She told him promptly while bringing up a digital display of the solar system on his forward display.

"Alright, anything within range that might indicate a place we can head to besides the Earth? I'd rather not have to fly us all the way to the Earth just yet." He said as he looked at the blue speck in his display. Something felt off about heading to the earth, and the distant sparkling lights which peppered the corner of his eye only gave him more reason not to go.

Not to mention the fact that he wouldn't survive the trip, not with his machine depleted of its reserves and his suit lacking food and water suitable for a trip lasting any longer than 3 days, his water might run out by then, which would be had for a lot of different reasons. Food was another matter, he had been trained to survive on minimal calorie diets in the past, and he exercised such things to survive in the field for extended periods of time.

"I have something of interest; location is about two hundred and seventy kilometres away, at our eleven o'clock position." Alice responded with a level of intrigue.

"What is it?" He inquired as he looked at the visual display.

"Debris, from a large structure or multiple structures, it is likely a space colony or station." She said in response. "A large one at that."

He looked around him, there wasn't anything else to do but go there. "Better than what we've got now…" He said before telling the AI. "Lock the coordinates into the computer; let's get going as fast as we can, there's nothing more for us here."

"Do you wish for me to take over Ray?" She asked him with a tender tone.

"No thank you, I'll be able to handle this." He said as he wasn't sure how well Alice was being fully sentient.

"Ray, I'm not sure you should be attempting to pilot the Eventide, not after just recovering, it might be prudent if you'd allow me to take control while you rest." She insisted.

"I said its fine Alice, I'll manage." He said a little terser before adding. "I need to keep myself preoccupied anyhow, there's a lot going on right now."

Alice didn't respond and silently relented, Ray felt a little guilty for having to act so harshly towards the AI, but something about all of this was off, he was thrown into a totally unexpected situation, one which had left him at odds with what he knew. In this situation, gathering information and getting to safety to think about what was going on, before he reached a conclusive decision.

"How much time will this take until we're at the debris field?" He inquired as he piloted the machine straight to the debris field.

"At our current speed, we'll arrive in half an hour." Alice said as he looked over at the dispersion pattern of the debris field.

"Okay, check the ECM systems are operational, make sure to set the sensors for a wide band sweep, if this debris field is new, there might be something worth looking for in it. Probably help with my lack of information on our current situation." He said as he thought about their current situation.

In his situation, he'd normally have some sort of objective, plan, information and intelligence, but being stuck here gave him little, besides that Alice was fully sentient, the machine he was operating was no longer a simulation, and something beyond his ability to comprehend had just occurred right out of the blue and he was stuck dealing with the immediate aftermath.

His current position was unprecedented, so he had to deal with it as it came along. He could only hope that this wasn't him having a hallucination or some sort of weird delusional episode, or things were going to get really annoying really fast. In any event, his mind clearly indicated what he was experiencing wasn't a delusion, as he could think clearly and respond and act like normal, so it wasn't likely a weird episode.

That in mind, it was clear that something happened, and he was now beginning to worry about the potential effect of what this might entail. And he was generally hoping that this was just some sort of weird feedback or illusion, but illusions don't require you to be awoken by a bloody defibrillator, and certainly not stimulants, so there was even money it could be far worse.

XXXXX

Meanwhile…

A sole machine coloured blue white with red abdomen and feet, armed with a massive sword and equipped with shield and shoulder guard, floated gently in the void. It brimmed with life, given the glowing green eyes and the fact that it was moving, though not physically, the unit was being pulled along by inertia, in its presence it held a large module, a life boat with survivors aboard.

Inside this machine was a young man, no older than fifteen, he was at the controls of such a machine, his mind was torn between the debris of his home and the lives of the people he had just rescued from his collapsed home. This wasn't an easy time for him, having been thrown into a world of mayhem in less than hours.

This was the life of Kira Yamato, the young boy who lived on the Orb Union's colony of Heliopolis, having wanted nothing more than a quiet life away from all the hazards of war and suffering which seemed to plague the world. He ended up getting dragged into it anyway, His friends were caught up in an unknown ZAFT attack on his colony, and he was forced to take action in order to save them.

He jumped into this machine known as X-105 Strike, operated by a young female officer of the Earth Alliance Forces; he saved their lives and fought back against ZAFT. He then killed people, using the abilities he possessed, he was able to defeat the ZAFT attack, but came face to face with his old childhood friend.

In the midst of all of this, his home was finally obliterated, torn apart in the crossfire, he himself winding up in the middle of the empty expanse, and reminiscing on the course of events in the span of a matter of hours. As he thought about his current situation, his mind was filled with the thoughts of seeing his old friend, even in these troubled times.

Kira's attention was drawn to the sound of his proximity alarm going off, telling him that he was nearing the Alliance warship, the Archangel. He turned his attention to the massive craft; it was somewhat welcoming to find sanctuary, albeit in the form of a warship. He signalled using his laser transmission.

"This is Kira Yamato, I've returned."

It took a moment but he soon received a response.  
"Yamato, we've noticed you're currently carrying a civilian life boat."

He nearly stammered when he replied.  
"Ah yes, this life boat was damaged in the debris field, I couldn't leave it alone."

"Mr Yamato, do you realise that we cannot take in refugees right now? We're in the middle of a combat situation, and with an active ZAFT presence, we don't have the luxury to provide necessary protection." Lieutenant Badgiruel said in a terse fashion.

"But Lieutenant, the people on this life boat, they're stranded, I can't just leave them out here."

"Mr Yamato, do not make me repeat myself, there isn't much we can do-." Natarle was interrupted from the com as acting Captain Ramius called over.

"What's going on?"

"Ma'am the Strike has brought back a life boat."

"A life boat?"

"Kira's refusing to leave the boat as it was."

Ramius knew that this little argument was going nowhere fast, and she understood Kira's plight, leaving people out in the middle of nowhere wasn't a particularly good prospect for survival. She then ordered.  
"Tell the Strike to bring the life boat aboard."

"Ma'am?" Natarle said clearly perplexed at the command decision.

"It's my decision; I'd rather not have the Strike taking longer than necessary over this." She said promptly.

Lieutenant Badgiruel had her reservations, but the lieutenant understood what Captain Ramius meant, even though she wasn't comfortable about violating a lot of protocols regarding this secret warship and the fact that the Alliance had a mobile suit, she had little choice but to accept this judgement and allow the refugees aboard.

"Strike you've been given permission to dock, come aboard to the starboard hangar."

Kira seemed to take this news well and replied.  
"Understood."

As the Strike headed into the ship, someone watched the scene.

XXXXX

From high above their position, from their axis, a blue and white mobile suit stood shrouded in the shadow of a large metallic fragment, concealed enough to spot the ship and observe what was going on. It was examining the ship and the situation unfolding…

Ray sat back and sighed, he figured that there was a strange potential for getting into trouble.  
"Alice, is this data feed correct?"

"Analysis is consistent, that is the Archangel-class vessel in your database, and it is the Strike, GAT-X105 mobile suit, as per specifications, armed with its Sword Striker." Alice responded promptly giving him a brief summary of the Strike's layout.

"Goddamn, this is shit I really don't want to deal with…" He muttered in annoyance.

"Is something the matter?" Alice inquired curtly.

Ray shook his head in response. "Not really, but I feel like I'm going to have a long day, my head's killing me from the neural interface and I haven't had a chance to recuperate." He said with a tense look. "Now I've been thrown into this situation, lovely."

"What do you feel we should do?" The AI asked.

The man thought it over, Alice was probably going through her own calculations on what sort of approach he'd make. 'I can't go spouting about how I'm from a timeline in which all of this is a story in an animation; they'd shoot me or think I'm crazy. At this point I'm going to have to go outside the box… yes that'll have to do.' He came to a conclusive decision.

He then said. "Subtlety, look Alice, I'm going to have to ask you to search for a signal, use the OMNI Enforcer signal code: Theta, I'm sure it's there in the database, it's a general use signal for friendly units, don't send it until I tell you to." He said as he looked for a correct approach vector.

"From my observations, I presume you will attempt to infiltrate as a member of Earth Alliance Forces?" Alice surmised promptly.

He was a little surprised at how Alice figured that out, but then again, she did think from his perspective. "Yes, considering that they're the only ship in the area besides ZAFT, and I don't want to wait days trying to fly my suit all the way to Earth without proper supplies, not to mention I need to do a maintenance check on the internal components, seeing as how we escaped that fight with Rebawoo in a deadlock, I don't want damaged components unfixed." He said to her.

"Understood, where do you suggest we approach this ship from?" Alice inquired.

"Twenty seven kilometres from the ship's port stern, from there we can make our approach look like it wasn't intentional, use the debris field as cover in case we spook them. I don't want to get shot down over a misunderstanding." He replied as he used his neural interface to mark out the direction.

"Very well." Alice replied as the Eventide detached from its hiding spot.

Ray knew that this wasn't what he was expecting or what he was hoping for, this entire situation was pretty much blowing everything out of proportion to the point he wasn't sure if he could call this a viable result. In any case, he had to shoulder the fact that he couldn't avoid the ship, not with his suit having a limited amount of food and water.

He could reach the Earth, but he'd have few places to go, as he didn't know anyone in many countries and powers throughout the world that was Gundam SEED. And most of them would be more than happy to exploit his abilities or use him for their own goals, something he wasn't particularly interested in; it would be prudent to avoid those places.

Orb was his best chance, but then again, he didn't have a lot of people he knew he could defer to, also it would draw a lot of attention from a few people he knew that would try to get to him, the Astray series pointed out that even in Orb there were malicious figures. He would need to play this very carefully if he didn't want to die.

Joining the Archangel now would present plenty of short term issues, but he could deal with the long term effects, hopefully without killing tons of characters in the process. He knew that this was Gundam though, and with Gundam, characters will die, or wind up in all kinds of situations, some less fortunate than others.

'Got to play this carefully if I don't want to get good characters killed. Aside from Shinn, that guy's such a fucking whinny bitch, at least until the revamp manga…' Ray thought to himself.

This notion that he was stuck in the Gundam Seed universe suddenly hit him; this was like a weird kind of scenario to end up in, beyond the way ludicrous bullshit that anyone would ever expect to endure. Still it was better than that stupid ass incident in japan where an entire stadium was affected by an uncontrolled burst of particles.

His situation seemed a little less crazy and stranger than most, he knew that he would be forced to face down a multitude of threats, but it wouldn't be the worst thing to happen. He survived 6 years of military service fighting in some rather brutal environments and conditions; this didn't seem that far of a step away from that, besides having to deal with insurgents taking pot shots at him every week with RPGs or wooden spring loaded mines.

As they circled around the sensor net of the Archangel, Ray thought about what he was going to say, and he knew he had to make it as convincing as possible.  
'I think this'll work…' He thought enthusiastically of his approach.

XXXXX

Meanwhile…

On the Archangel the crew was beginning to regain their bearings, after the travesty that was the battle for Heliopolis, they found themselves in a mess of a situation, with the destruction of the colony and the fact that they were now out in open space with hostiles looking for them. Things were tense at the moment, but they knew that they didn't have a lot of time before someone came looking for them.

Murrue Ramius, the acting captain of the Archangel Class warship, was in a less than particularly comfortable situation, having been thrust into the command chair of the warship due to unforeseen circumstances. She had been pressed to keep the ship afloat and its meagre complement of crew alive in the face of disparate odds.

She was in the midst of discussing the next best course of action and also settling a certain matter brought to her attention by the young man known as Kira Yamato, the coordinator from the colony that had been dragged into this mess in the same way everyone else was. And now they had to make a decision, which is where Mu had come in.

"Our options are Artemis or Luna HQ, but we might not survive a direct trip to Luna HQ, not with our supplies so low, and with all of ZAFT's fleet standing between us and the moon, we'd run into more trouble than we could potentially handle." Mu said curtly, his tone didn't betray the weight of danger that they'd go if they went down that route.

"It doesn't sound like an opportune kind of move. But with what we're carrying aboard and the Archangel's secrets, do you think we should ignore it?"

"It might be safer to take a trip to our allies in the Eurasian Federation; they've got the resource satellite sitting right next door to us. It might be best to go in and stock up before making a risky endeavour like that." Murrue said as she analysed the open routes and paths they could take.

But before they could make a decision on their next course of action, they were alerted to the sounds of an alarm. This alarm set their attention to the ECW suite operator who was manning his station. He called over from his console.  
"Captain, we've got a heat signature, incoming from our port stern, it's moving at high speed."

"What's that?" Murrue said as she looked up at the display.

"Unknown, we've got a signature, high speed object, not debris, it's got a thermal signature, and its approaching from our eight o'clock position, bearing 120, yellow zero five oh nine, unknown silhouette."

"Is it a mobile suit?" Ramius asked as she looked at the digital display of the approaching craft.

"No, I don't think it is." The operator known as Dalida replied as the ship went on alert.

"Then what is it?" Mu asked as he looked at the screen intently.

The visual indicator for the unknown was rather hard to see as it was approaching from a position which they could only see a portion of the machine in question.  
"Silhouette doesn't match any known pattern in the database." Dalida said as he continued to observe the incoming machine.

"Is it a new machine?" Ramius said as she looked at the sensor data.

"If it was they'd have brought it into play during the battle against us." Mu stated tensely.

"Ma'am it looks like a fighter craft." Dalida said as he looked at the visual outline in detail.

"A fighter?" Ramius repeated in a perplexed tone.

"What the hell is a fighter doing way out here?" Mu said to no one in particular as they got a visual.

It was then Dalida announced. "Ma'am, I'm receiving something, it's a signal, and it's an Earth Alliance IFF."

"An Alliance IFF? Does it mean it's friendly?" Arnold said from the helm.

This was great news, but things seemed out of place. "What's going on here?" Murrue said.

"The machine is signalling us." Dalida reported.

"Well it doesn't look like it wants a fight." Mu said with a shrug.

"Put it through." Captain Ramius said as she turned her attention to the forward display.

"Earth Alliance Vessel, Archangel, this is Warrant Officer Rayleigh Hyung, Alliance Naval Special Operations Warfare, I'm currently on approach, hold your fire! This message repeats…" The voice of a man came through, it wasn't old or gruff, but it was mature.

"Is this some kind of bait?" Natarle asked as she scrutinised the transmission.

"I'm not sure, that's not registered as a fighter in any of our databases, and it can't be a ZAFT machine, seeing as we have no record of it in any database." Their operations officer said uncertainly.

"What do you think Lieutenant?" Murrue asked the senior veteran.

Mu pondered on the matter, he gave his reply after a moment. "I'm not sure; it'd be really great if we actually found another pilot out here with a machine to support us." Mu said with a shrug and added. "But I think we can take the fact that he doesn't have any ZAFT machines following after him as a good sign."

"I can only advise caution, I'd rather not let them come aboard so quickly." Natarle warned.

Murrue wasn't sure about this whole situation, it seemed a little out of place, but on the other hand, they couldn't ignore him when he was coming in close, not to mention with a rather open intention.  
She decided on the best course of action, albeit she knew it was best to play carefully. "Patch me through." She told Dalida.

"This is Captain of the Earth Alliance vessel Archangel, Murrue Ramius; we've received your signal." Murrue replied promptly, a clear and concise response to the hails from the fighter.

"My apologies for dropping in you unannounced Captain, I was stuck out here for a while." The man said in a prompt fashion before introducing himself.  
"I'm Warrant Officer Rayleigh Hyung, Alliance Naval Special Warfare."

"Alliance Naval Special Warfare, that's certainly new." Mu mused from behind.

"Warrant Officer, what is that machine you're piloting?" Murrue inquired as they continued to observe its approach vector.

"This unit is the Ex-Eventide, an experimental class of machine; it was one of the only prototypes that were in production, I was testing the thing when all hell broke loose. Long story short, the ship I was one when this was getting transported got caught up in the fighting and was sunk before it was able to dock, and I was thrown clear from the explosion." He told them. "I was lucky that the machine withheld the explosion."

"So this machine you're piloting is experimental?" Murrue inquired.

"Yes, I can't say any more than that though, I'm sorry to say that there's just too much that no one is supposed to know about this machine besides the fact that I'm its pilot." He told her promptly.

"Were you outside of the colony when the attack began?" She asked, clearly trying to discern what this person was like.

"Yes, though for reasons I cannot disclose, the ship was carrying my machine and we were heading to Heliopolis in an unmarked transport, we got intercepted by an unknown vessel, and the next thing I knew it was floating in the middle of nowhere." He said calmly.

"How come we didn't know of any such machine being transferred?" Murrue pressed the Warrant Officer.

"The Eventide is an experimental unit, not to mention it was decided that the projected would be outsourced to another branch of the Alliance military, besides this I can't say for certain why the machine was being transferred I was just told to take it there." He told them, clearly hiding something.

Murrue could tell that it was impossible for her to pry into this matter as Ray had made it clear that he wasn't allowed to reveal anything more than what he should, or things could go very badly. Despite her displeasure with all these secrets, Ray wasn't saying anymore on the topic.

"How's the condition of your machine?" She asked the pilot.

"Fully operational, this unit was designed to take a great deal of punishment, thankfully." He said before asking. "So captain, do I have permission to come aboard?"

Murrue had enough of an idea of what to expect from this man, and she nodded.  
"You have my permission; we'll open up the portside landing bay for your machine. Though we'd advise you, our current situation is dire."

"I'm assuming you mean that ZAFT is still in the area?" He asked intently.

"Yes, I'm afraid so." Murrue told the man honestly.

"That doesn't bother me, I'll help in any way I can." He replied before closing the line leaving the crew to think over what he said.

Murrue was then asked by Mu.  
"Think he's lying?'

"I'm not sure, I don't think he's lying about being a pilot, as for his machine, he's no doubt carrying a number of secrets if what he says is true."

"Alliance Navy's Special Operations Warfare, huh, I don't recall there being a specific branch in the Alliance military, then again, these things are pretty hush so I wouldn't be surprised if there were a few autonomous units which operated with Alliance authority." Mu pondered.

They looked at the visual display on the fighter, the fighter in question was large for a fighter that was for certain, it was taller and wider than normal space designed craft, it seemed like it was designed for atmospheric use as well as space. A dual purpose machine with high durability in space and atmosphere might do well, though it raises the question as to why it was created.

Murrue observed the machine as it slowed down to land in the portside hangar, its size was a little bit big, but they could fit it in, the trouble was now determining who their new mystery guest was.  
"Do you think that this pilot is some kind of Special Forces operative?"

"Likely, I haven't seen anything like his machine, and the fact that he's part of a division I haven't heard about, there's a good possibility we have ourselves an operator from the Special Forces somewhere in the Alliance." Mu said optimistically.

"Maybe, but something about his demeanour seems to rub me the wrong way."

"He's too casual for someone who's a Special Forces operator?" Mu mused.

"No, though I do find his demeanour a little odd." She said thinking over the way he acted. She continued. "Essentially, you don't find it a little odd that someone from the Alliance would be coming in a transport with a new machine the day we're suddenly attacked, do you?"

"I don't think a single machine with an unknown quality pilot is something I could classify as entirely suspicious, it's convenient, but not suspicious, and he did state that the transport was sunk before arriving at Heliopolis, so I can't dismiss it."

The situation warranted attention, starting a fight was a bad idea for obvious reasons, and this was supposedly a friendly unit, with a valid IFF marker of the Earth Alliance Forces. Murrue decided to follow through with her judgement.  
"Let them aboard, and tell them to land in the portside hangar. Have a small detachment of security on alert, but tell them to not interrupt, I'll see to this pilot immediately."

"Very well ma'am."

"Lieutenant La Flaga, would you mind joining me?" Captain Ramius gestured as she headed off the bridge.

"Of course not." The man replied as he followed behind the captain.

XXXXX

Ray's entry was successful, something which he was genuinely glad about, seeing as how badly things could have turned out if Murrue decided to ignore his request, or attack him. He'd have to flee and try his luck with just running to the Earth, which wasn't something he particularly looked forward to doing in his Eventide. He expertly piloted his Eventide to the hangar bay, watching his approach, he used the laser guidance system to guide himself in, his fighter slowed as he reached the deck of the ship, entering into the cavernous bay.

He felt the deck meet the landing gear of the ship's deck plating, his senses told him the exact amount of pressure from his landing. As he touched down, the large bay doors closed behind him, indicating a successful recovery of his fighter. In moments the large hangar doors opened to allow him entry into the airlock. He let Alice take care of the parking as he went around and looked for something in his bag. He removed a small compact computer, about the size of a smart phone, but it was slightly thicker and had a hinge on the side. This was his old portable compact computer, a piece of history for him.

The last vestige of his past, filled with all sorts of crap from his life, TV shows, anime, and music along with files of pornography and artwork that could probably fill a library or two. Not something he wanted people to look into. He set his old computer into his suit's pocket before he rummaged through his belongings, making sure that he had everything ready for his lengthy stay in the ship. He had his handgun from his service time, but he decided that it wasn't worth risk bringing aboard.

Alice was busy making sure that the Eventide was parked in the right spot. While Ray worked over his things he thought about his approach to the crew making sure not to do anything that'd cause him a lot of trouble. Even as awkward as this entire situation was, he figured making sure that this wasn't all some kind of ream or distortion was important, as he didn't want to get himself killed or into more trouble than he could handle.

"Alice, I'll keep in touch through my computer and phone, and remember do not under any circumstance try to communicate with the crew unless I give you a very good reason to, alright?" He said to his AI.

Alice understood.  
"I understand Rayleigh, is there anything you will need of me?"

"Not at the moment, just focus on getting repairs done and charging the Eventide's capacitors, I'm going to be spending quite a while with our new allies." He said as he prepared to exit.

From within the cockpit Ray spotted Kira, the young brown haired boy, floating int the hangar with Flay Allster in his arms. Ray was almost pensive about his situation, but he didn't let it stop him from assuming his character, hoping that this didn't blow up in his face and the Captain was willing to let him stay without too much trouble. He pushed his seat back as he opened up the cockpit, a hatch opened up and he lowered himself out of it.

XXXXX

Kira observed the new machine's arrival, he was genuinely surprised to see another machine coming in, he wasn't sure about where this new machine had come from, but it was clearly some kind of fighter. Whoever was piloting it had come at quite a bad time, everything had gone so wrong, the destruction of his home Heliopolis and the battle he had fought, the lives he had taken.

His mind drifted back to what had happened in the last few hours, it felt like such a rush, but his attention was drawn back to the lifeboat, it was then he noted a young girl with red hair and pink dress. The girl was confused about where she was and then when she looked up, she called out to him.

"Hey, you're Sai's friend aren't you?" The redhead said as she drifted up to meet him.

"Uh… yeah." Kira managed as he was suddenly hugged by the young girl.

"What's going on, where are we? Is this a ZAFT ship?" She began to ask sporadically.

"No we're on an Alliance vessel." Kira attempted to reassure her.

"That's not possible, there's a mobile suit aboard." She said pointing to the Strike which was sitting in its berth.

"That's actually owned by the Alliance." He said to her.

"You're lying aren't you? The Alliance doesn't have mobile suits." Flay said in dismissal.

Kira couldn't help much with the girl's emotional scepticism, she was distraught as were many others, and he determined to keep her calm though.  
"It's an Alliance mobile suit. But I should mention Sai's on the ship."

"Sai's here?" The girl said surprised.

His words helped to draw her focus on something comforting which worked fine for him "Yes, do you want me to take you to him?" He asked the redhead.

They were about to get going when Kira noticed the new machine's pilot exit from the bottom, the man dressed in full black gear and pilot suit, it was odd and at the same time intimidating. He turned his attention back to Flay who began to tug on his clothes as a means to get his attention.

"Ah sorry, let's get going." He said as they headed to the nearest exit.

Meanwhile a certain pilot was observing the entire scene from within his cockpit, curiously musing about coordinator who had seen him.

XXXXX

Murrue and Mu arrived in the hangar to meet with their newest arrival; the work crew was securing the fighter into a berth on its own. The flight deck maintainers were going over the craft with their tools, examining details over the surface of the machine, they were all quite curious as to how the craft worked, but they kept themselves at a distance, mainly because they hadn't received orders to do anything to it just yet.

The two officers made note of the deep blue and white paint scheme, it seemed highly detailed for a fighter, and it also told them that the machine wasn't using any sort of pattern they recognised.  
"Kinda neat do you think captain?" Mu asked as they continued to drift over to the machine.

"As nice as it might look, we still don't know much about this craft, or its pilot. I'd prefer you stay on your toes." She said rather intently.

Mu nodded in response, clearly understanding that they were meeting with a new face, and one who had quite a few shady secrets. The bottom of the machine had a hatch which opened up, allowing the pilot to exit from the machine. Both officers couldn't help but look at the suit the pilot wore.

The pilot suit was unique; it looked more like a suit of muscles and armoured plates rather than just protective gear meant to shield the user from the deathly vacuum of space. It wasn't the only strange thing about his pilot suit, it was armoured, and the chest and abdomen along with the arms and legs had looked like they were covered in some kind of lacquered plates. The helmet was quite different as well, it wasn't like a normal helmet, and it almost completely covered the visor, leaving a narrow V shape slit in the fore part of the helmet, which was tinted black.

The man removed his helmet, revealing his features to the two of them, much to the surprise of Mu and Murrue; he looked military with his short haircut and scars on his face. He also had the look of someone who had been through quite a bit in his lifetime. His eyes were focused on them, clear and patient, of course there was also this somewhat laid back feeling as well, the way he carried himself.

"Ma'am Warrant Officer 1st Class, Rayleigh Hyung. Earth Alliance Naval Special Operations Warfare Division." He greeted her with a salute. "Thank you for letting me aboard." The Warrant Officer said at attention, though his feet didn't quite lock together thanks to the zero gravity environment they were in.

Murrue could tell he was disciplined, that or was just acting formal as possible in meeting a superior, she wasn't sure. But she returned his salute.  
"At ease Warrant Officer I think we can forgo formalities for now, we're in a bit of a situation as you can imagine."

"I can understand ma'am." He said before dropped his salute and posture before asking. "I'm assuming that you aren't the actual captain of the ship?" He inquired; he recalled what she had said before.

"No, I'm afraid the captain and most of the bridge officers were killed in the attack by ZAFT, we're all that remain mostly engineers, regular crewmen and other assorted personnel." Murrue stated to Hyung.

"Who might you be then?" The warrant officer inquired.

"Lieutenant Commander Murrue Ramius, acting captain of the Archangel." She introduced herself promptly.

Mu made his presence known, stepping forward; he made a friendly gesture before starting.  
"I'm Mu…" Mu didn't get a chance to finish, as Ray cut him off midsentence.

"Mu La Flaga, the Hawk of Endymion." Ray said as he reached out for a handshake. "Your reputation precedes you."

"So you know about me?" Mu said as his curiosity was piqued by Ray's comment.

"Hard not to, you have a habit of getting things done, and surviving some pretty difficult battles if I recall, I was receiving some training based upon your battles." Rayleigh said with a grin.

"Is that so?" Mu replied while returning the grin.

"Warrant Officer, I'm a little lost, but where did this machine come from? I mean there's no information of your machine at Morgenroete, or any information of your arrival." Murrue asked intently.

"The machine in question was developed independent of Morgenroete that much I can say. It's carrying a lot of secrets within it, some of which I don't quite understand myself. But its top of the line, she's powerful and fast, and she can go toe to toe with a lot of other kinds of machines despite what she might look like." He said with some measure of pride.

The two officers looked at the Eventide with a curious look, they couldn't quite imagine that a fighter was able to match the same mobility or versatility of a mobile suit."A fighter with the capability of going toe to toe with mobile suits? That's a first." Mu said while examining the Eventide.

"Looks can be deceiving Lieutenant La Flaga, the Eventide is a unique type of machine." Hyung insisted. "This beauty of a machine is quite capable and armed with sufficient firepower it can deal with a wide variety of threats." Ray worded carefully.

Mu raised an eyebrow to Ray's comment, rather piqued as to what Ray meant by his comment.  
"Seeing as how we've gotten introductions out of the way, could I ask about getting a situation report? I mean I'm certain that I'll be able to provide some help."

"Well we're running short on supplies, right now we're faced with dwindling resources and the potential threat of being attacked by ZAFT soon, if we don't get clear of this debris field." Murrue said in response, she was keeping information out of the Strike and making sure that she didn't reveal too many things right now.

"I see, well I don't know how much help I can provide, my only offer is that I'll do what I can to help your get to wherever you're going." He told them with honesty.

"Your assistance is much appreciated Warrant Officer." Murrue said thoughtfully.

The trio headed back out of the hangar bay and into the corridor where they were busy discussing their situation. "So, where are we going right now?" Hyung inquired.

"Artemis, the Eurasian satellite, it should be a straight run from here." Murrue told him.

Ray gave a thoughtful look while he recited some information. "Artemis, if I recall the installation is under the command of a commander Garcia."

"You know who's running Artemis?" Mu inquired clearly surprised Ray knew who was on Artemis.

"Yeah, but I haven't met Garcia, aside from that one encounter a year or so ago, he's an ambitious man, he fought at the battle of Grimaldy Crater as well."

"Did he?" The lieutenant's interest was piqued.

"Yes. However I don't know the details, the man was a rather self-assured fellow, but I don't know much else about him after then." Ray shrugged as they went to the nearby elevator.

"So, he's the one who commands the satellite facility?" Murrue said as she thought about this new piece of information.

"We'll take note of that; we're preparing to get underway to Artemis very soon." Mu informed him as they stepped inside of the lift.

"Alright, now I noticed that there's a mobile suit in the hangar, I'm assuming that's the GAT-X105 Strike?" Ray asked the two as they sat in the elevator.

"You know about the Strike?" Murrue asked in a very serious tone, her eyes didn't betray how she felt about the whole topic.

Ray tried to lead them on the topic. "I said that our development team was independent, it didn't mean we couldn't catch snippets from some people working on it, though most was hearsay or rumours, I got lucky and managed to get a bit more than most. But that's mostly classified, all I know is the profile of the machines you created, besides that, nothing else." He tried to reassure the captain.

Murrue wasn't sure how to respond, that wasn't what she had expected, she didn't recall of any other organisation which might have learnt about the G-weapon project, but if what the Warrant Officer was saying was true, then he had a bit of inside information. Then again ZAFT found the site of the Archangel and the G-weapons so chances were that someone leaked intelligence.

"So, who's the pilot?" Ray asked the two officers.

Mu and Ramius weren't sure about how they were supposed to respond, this matter was already a sensitive issue seeing as how their pilot wasn't actually part of the Alliance. Though Mu looked to the acting captain and silently gave her his intention to explain to the warrant officer, Murrue nodded in judgement at her senior pilot's decision.

Mu responded curtly.  
"He's a civilian from the colony of Heliopolis."

"Civilian contractor?" Ray asked.

"Umm, no, more like, just a civilian." Mu told him promptly.

"A civilian with the capability to pilot a mobile suit?" Rayleigh said perplexed, he looked at the two of the officers with a sceptical expression.

Inwardly Ray knew who was doing what. Keeping a low enough profile was important to avoiding some very complicated questions. And he did have some background information on the G-weapons project and some other stuff thanks to the MSV series and the Gundam Astray manga filling in a bunch of details in regards to the events taking place.

The two shared uncertain looks before Ray then said.  
"Alright, I'm going out on a limb and guessing, coordinator?" He asked the two of them.

They certainly responded as expected, Murrue explained. "The person in question is a Coordinator, having been caught up in the attack."

"Essentially volunteered to help us." Mu merely said promptly.

"Well it's not the most unexpected answer." Rayleigh said scratching his head. "Is the civilian alright working with the Strike?"

They were a little surprised at his response.  
"You aren't going to inquire as to our decision for having a coordinator pilot the Strike?"

"Considering that I'm all for surviving, I don't mind that as much as dealing with a potential hazard, as long as this civilian does voluntarily I don't think I could complain, it's not as if you've got an abundance of pilots now do you?" He told them promptly before adding. "That's how I see things."

This was a surprising bit of personal information they had gleamed from Ray, but they assumed it was just a quirk with his personality. The man was willing to let this slide, and he had no objection on Kira's participation, so they continued on.  
"Well, I was going to speak with him about that very soon." Mu explained. "At least until we finished bringing you up to speed and sorting this story out."

"You don't mind me if I come along do you?" Ray asked the Lieutenant.

"Why?" Murrue asked trying to discern his intention.

"I'd like to see this pilot for myself, if that's alright with you of course Captain." He told Murrue.

"Of course, but we still have your machine to deal with." Murrue said before Ray then told her.  
"It's alright, just make sure no one goes inside or starts fiddling with the machine itself, the unit has a self-destruct in case of tampering. Just leave it there." He warned the captain.

Murrue wasn't sure how to respond to that, Ray shrugged. "When I said it was carrying a lot of secrets I wasn't kidding, just let it be for now."

As he and Mu left the elevator, Murrue rubbed her temple; this wasn't how she imagined this shaping up. 'This day is shaping up to be one rollercoaster of surprises.' She thought inwardly at the antics of their newest pilot.

XXXXX

Ray looked around as they travelled through the corridor, his eyes making sure to memorise key locations in the ship, it would be crucial later when he needed to find his way around, and also cut down on travel time when necessary. He didn't want to get lost on the ship, seeing as how embarrassing and annoying that'd be for him.

'Man this ship is big, not as big as the Houston-class mobile naval base the Americans used, but still bigger than most naval ships I've been on.' He thought as he dedicated as much of the areas to memory.

As they continued to move down the corridor Ray decided to make some conversation with Mu. "So, this pilot how old is he?"

"About fifteen if I recall, he's pretty young. But he's done surprisingly well despite being pitted in an unfavourable situation." Mu said honestly from his point of view. "He means well, but he's rather hesitant, he's not really what you'd call military material."

Ray nodded in acknowledgement. "Well that's how most of us start out that way, the kid's probably struggling mentally trying to overcome these issues, and I've seen it before. Nothing new, but arguably, he'll have to overcome it, unless he wants to get killed." Ray said as they continued to move along the interior of the ship.

"He's trying to save lives, or at least he means to protect people, his friends are his primary reason for getting into all of this. It's probably the reason why he'd helped those people on the lifeboat." Mu said to Ray, denoting a tone of some uncertainty.

"I noticed that on the way in, the kid brought the lifeboat into the ship?" Ray asked the lieutenant.

"The lifeboat was damaged, he wanted to bring them on board, though we weren't sure about accepting refugees, in all honesty there was a chance they could have been picked up by a search and rescue ship, but hard to say seeing the current situation." Mu explained.

"Figures, well I guess that's another thing to add to the list about his actions." Ray said aloud while thinking over the next course of action.

In reality he was already going over everything in his head.  
'Got to make sure the kid doesn't die in all of this, and make sure I don't accidently fuck things up more than they should.' He figured as they reached the general quarters of the ship.

Lots of people were wandering around in the corridors, Ray had thought that the life boat wouldn't have held as many people, but here they could see dozens of civilians wandering around. There must have been nearly a hundred on the life boat, or so, seeing as how it was meant to carry large numbers of people from disaster.

The two of them reached the quarters where the kids were billeting. Mu stepped ahead to see Kira. "Hey kid, there you are, Murdoch's currently overworked, and we've got little staff and crew to deal with all of the needed maintenance, so you're going to have to deal with the upkeep of your machine." Mu said to the young man waiting in the doorframe of his room.

"My machine?" The young man said in confusion, clearly surprised at the need for his involvement.

"Yeah, since you're the only one capable of operating it, it's currently designated as yours." Mu told the young man.

From behind Mu, Ray waited in earnest, observing this scene; he had to be rather careful in the selection of words for making a case when dealing with Kira. He knew that what he said would have long term effects down the road for this series.  
'One step forward.' He thought as he watched.

Kira gritted his teeth and stood motionless, his posture denoted his stance. "But I'm not in the military." He said with a level of unwillingness, he wasn't happy with this.

"Kid look, we know that, but we need every able bodied person right now, we don't have much of a choice."

"I didn't want this; I don't want to fight again." Kira insisted.

"Look…" Mu felt a tap on his shoulder as he saw Ray standing behind him with a rather contemplative look.

Ray then suggested to Mu. "Mu, do you mind if I try?"

Mu wasn't sure about this but it seemed like Ray looked like he had a great deal to speak about, that or he seemed certain he could give Kira something to sway him. It was a good opportunity to learn a little bit more about Warrant Officer Hyung's mindset, whatever it might be.

Mu was a little reluctant, but he decided to let Ray go ahead and speak. Ray stepped over from behind the Lieutenant and looked at Kira who looked back in confusion. The man kept his passive stance before he started.

"Look here kid, you've been thrown into a mess of a situation understandable. But get your head around this; lives depend on you right now. All these people you brought in, they're literally in the same boat as you are now, if you refuse to fight, they along with everyone on this ship dies." Ray said gesturing to the refugees now aboard the ship.

Kira looked at Rayleigh uncertain of what to say, but he could see it in the pilot's eyes that he was dead serious.  
"There are a lot of things you have to learn as you become an adult, one primary thing is responsibility, you are an individual, and as an individual, you have to take responsibility for what you do. Take into this consideration before you act next time. Your actions affect everyone around you, and no one else is responsible besides yourself."

Kira looked at him with a contemplative expression on his face, but he was clearly facing some internal turmoil, Ray knew what it was, but he didn't press it any further. He'd have to let Kira simmer on these actions, and whether or not it'd work in getting him to accept responsibility would be determined through his next choice.

Mu sat behind Ray examining the scene, Ray had slapped reality into Kira's face, despite what Kira thought, he had put people's lives in the firing line, and to be perfectly honest, running away and pretending it wasn't his responsibility was indeed childish, he'd have to confront this fact, whether he wanted to or not.

In the quarter, Kira's friends looked upon Ray, all becoming very well aware that this situation in which Kira was in, along with them. They felt sorry for their friend being shoved into this situation, besides Flay who was a little perplexed at this scenario. Ray didn't need to look at them because he knew how they more than likely felt about their friend getting wedged between a rock and a hard place.

"Umm mind if I ask, but who are you?" One of the boys asked, this one sported glasses.

"Name's Rayleigh Hyung, though I prefer people calling me Ray, I'm the new pilot of the machine down in the hangar; I just got aboard the ship." He answered the young man promptly.

"Are you going to help defend the ship as well?" A red haired girl asked with an anxious tone.

"Yeah, though this is because I'm obligated to keep this ship safe and everyone on it." He said with a sense of assurance.

Mu decided to try and reinforce Ray's words. "Kid, think of about it, you don't have a lot of time, right now you and I along with Ray here are the only ones who are capable of defending the ship."

"And mind you, my machine isn't meant for fighting heavily stacked odds, so when it comes down to it, I can only mitigate the amount of threats posed to the ship." Ray stated clearly. "You've got to step up, or we're not getting any further."

Kira looked down at the ground and his back pressed against the wall, his face was grim, but his posture reflected how he felt, he then uttered.  
"It's not that easy for me…"

The boy immediately turned away and stormed off in a hurry before any of the others could stop him, not like they would need to. "Should we go after him?" A brown haired girl asked.

"No, leave him alone, he's needing to vent, and probably clear his head before he makes a decision, it's not easy for him, I know. But he knows that he's got something to fight for." Ray said with certainty.

"But it seems like you're forcing him into a corner." The girl with brown hair said defensively.

"Well unfortunately that's reality, we're at a standing point where if he doesn't act, you'd all die, and if he acts he will kill people. War's not so clear cut, it's doing things we wouldn't want to do to others. Whether or not we agree is entirely up to us, but understanding that if we want to survive, well you have to fight." Ray said with a sigh before turning away.

He gestured to Mu.  
"Sorry to be such a mood killer."

"No, it's alright; you worded it a lot better." Mu said as he took Ray down the hallway.

Mu honestly intended to approach this in a totally different way, but Ray made his point in a more logical sense, and one which hit a lot harder. True they had escaped immediate danger, but they were faced with an enemy which would definitely attempt to kill them, and Ray understood this. More to the point, he was right about accepting responsibility, you can't just wash your hands after getting involved like that.  
'I'm beginning to think there's more to this boy than meets the eye.' Mu thought as he looked at Ray.

The two of them left the group of teens to contemplate on Ray's words, they were no doubt thinking about how their friend was left in such a difficult situation. It gave the teenagers quite a bit to think about, and made them think of what responsibility that they shared, now with Kira being there to protect them.

XXXXX

Back on the bridge, Captain Ramius returned to the bridge to check on the progress of preparations, as she arrived, she was greeted by Natarle who greeted her as any first officer.  
"Captain, I assume you've managed to meet with our new arrival?"

"He's definitely something of an oddity." Murrue said promptly.

"Is he an Alliance Forces pilot?" The Lieutenant asked with all seriousness.

"He's military, as to which military, I couldn't possibly give you an answer, he knows how to hold himself, but he slacks off, he seems to be well informed, having knowledge on things surrounding the G-weapons project."

"So he's some kind of spy?" Natarle queried with seriousness.

"I don't know, it doesn't seem like that, but I do believe he's working as part of a special military outfit. At least from the impression he left, he doesn't seem like the one to start causing trouble though." Murrue said with a modicum of objectivity.

They were stuck in a difficult position, while Ray's arrival seemed a little bit convenient, they couldn't argue the potential benefits of having such a pilot, this man has the ability to help in their time of need. So they wouldn't throw him in a brig yet, for now they would let him participate, depending on what was to come, either this would be good or bad.

"How's the preparations going for our departure to Artemis?" Murrue asked.

The raven haired officer reported.  
"All stations have completed final repairs and checks, we're ready."

"Very well, prepare to execute manoeuvres in five minutes, silent running." Murrue ordered.

The tactical officer nodded and quickly dispatched orders, the ship made course adjustments and prepared to get going, their path would cut through the debris field. Their decoy plan seemed like the best option for escaping ZAFT's search parties and hopefully it'd be enough to get them all the way without getting ramrod by Rau Le Creuset.

XXXXX

Back down in the ship…

Ray hadn't actually expected to give a speech like that, until he remembered how Mu had told him about fighting in the anime, it was a little simplistic, but it got the point through. Ray decided to hammer it home a little more to get Kira to understand that he had done a lot more than just fight, and that his actions had serious consequences.

Ignoring that would be beyond stupid, he had to own up to his action, and if that meant having to protect those now aboard, then so be it. The responsibility was his to shoulder for making that decision, and he knew it. Ray suspected that the teenager would probably have some difficulty going over his words, but he'd make the right decision sooner rather than later, hopefully.

'Though I could just as likely derail the entire timeline by doing whatever the hell I wanted.' He thought nonchalantly to himself.

This situation raised a lot of concerns, one being the potential hazard of his intervention, not to mention the number of other issues he wasn't sure he could determine. Gundam Seed had three iterations, the original airing, anniversary and the more recent, revamp series, which had gotten mixed reviews, though it depended on what you looked at.

Putting it simply, he'd be faced with a wide variety of scenarios, if this was the anniversary, then not much difference from the main storyline besides a few extra machines, if this was revamp, then he'd have a lot more trouble. Revamp was the series which expanded the entire Gundam Seed franchise, and it included individual stories written by a lot of separate authors.

The main timeline was still relatively the same, but it included a more extensive travel period and minor background stories, along with a few revisions, which might be a little hard to avoid. Like the atmospheric assault packs which the ZAFT equipped the Gundams with, or the characters of Euro-Front.

Euro-Front was unique for the Gundam Seed world, it was the frontline focused in Europe during the war, and included a lot of interesting inclusions such as Mare Strode and a few other characters which were in Gundam Seed Destiny, both anime and manga. If they're in this timeline, he would face serious opposition, with Mare Strode making a short cameo appearance with an elite team of pilots in Africa.

However, these characters join in towards the end of the Africa arc; they do make quite the impression. Another issue was Shiho, and her team of veteran female pilots, they'd cause a lot of trouble if they join in, hopefully it doesn't come down to that. Ray pondered over his current predicament, but he didn't let his mind slip too far away.

"Hey, we're here." Mu said to Ray.

Ray immediately snapped out of his thoughts and turned his attention to his billet.  
"Ah, thanks Lieutenant."

"Just refer to me as Mu, besides I thought you said you weren't big on formality." The blonde haired man said with a chuckle.

"True. Anyway thanks for that, I'll probably have to go and grab my stuff from my machine later." Ray said as he opened up the front door.

"Ask personnel if you need help setting your stuff away." Mu suggested.

"No it's alright. Besides I don't have a lot with me, besides the essentials." Ray replied with a grin.

"Oh, by the way, you should go to our chief medical officer; he's going to need your medical file and data." Mu informed Ray.

"Will do. But don't expect a full medical screening, it's not like we have the time." Ray said as he went about checking his billet.

As Ray made himself comfortable, Mu turned around and headed back towards the bridge. Ray on the other hand, went over his thoughts and mulled over his current situation, he closed the door to his room and pulled his compact computer. This old personal custom ultra-compact computer, meant for civilian technical operators to use in all kinds of environments, and it was reliable.

Opening the computer in the middle, the computer split open and half of the tool revealed a digital keypad and the other a touch screen interface. The main body on the other hand was a digital display screen with a haptic interface. It came to life as he slid his fingers across the screen and let it scan his imprints.

"Ray, is there something you need?" Alice inquired.

Ray momentarily paused before replying.  
"I've gotten aboard without any difficulty, though I need to know the status of the Eventide, have you completed a full internal scan?"

"Yes, the scans have revealed multiple defects in power regulation and distribution; a few subsystems have also suffered damage and required maintenance." Alice reported in.

"How long do you think this will take?" Ray inquired.

"No more than eight hours." Alice replied with a full diagnostic overview of the damages.

"Figures…" He muttered before inquiring. "Is the Eventide capable of operating weapon systems and I field barrier projector?"

"Not that I know of, the barriers should be functional; however with power distribution suffering from defects, the efficiency might be cut." She informed him.

"That's alright; the Eventide's speed would be able to make up for the lack of protection, though I'll be dodging a lot more attacks in any case." He thought over his tactical situation.

"Is there something else you require?" She asked him.

"I'll be coming back later for my things, also, I think I'll need a better communicator for use, though nothing as obvious as my computer, a simple and easily disguisable com-tool would do, anything which can allow me to keep in touch with you while I'm out."

"Very well, I'll look into it; there should be a potential use for a quantum entanglement communicator in my database." She told him.

"That'd definitely do it." He agreed while he thought about upgrading his personal equipment.

"Understood, Ray." Alice replied.

As the line closed, Ray turned his attention back to his multi-functional compact computer and began to fiddle around with the data storage. This little thing had been with him since before he joined the military, and he's kept it ever since, even after the development of two better computers and a military variant. The only good thing about this computer was that it was customised for his use in the field, as well as for utility work.

Of course he further modified it to act as a computer than anything else, the IOS X-12 update, adapted well for use with all platform games on mobile and computers, though they were a little finicky as keys were a little different as well as interface. He was tempted to just start playing something to keep his mind preoccupied.

He decided against it, he had more pressing matters to attend to, one being his trip to the infirmary for a quick check up and getting his stuff stored away in the room. He cracked his back and muttered.  
"What a fucking day."

Promptly stretching his arms, he picked himself up and left, heading down to the infirmary, wherever that was. Getting the most problematic issue out of the way came first, convincing the crew that he wasn't a coordinator, and also securing his name in their registers. Once then, he could act more freely within the ship.

XXXXX

On the bridge of the Archangel, Murrue watched intently as the ship made its silent run, the forward burn with the engines allow them to move on ahead. Their decoy having been deployed, should have grabbed ZAFT's attention, now it was a matter of luck on whether or not their enemy had taken the bait.

Murrue's thoughts went back over what Lieutenant La Flaga had said about their best option for survival. Things looked a little grim, but with some measure of luck they'd make it through this to get to the safety of Artemis and hopefully to friendly lines. As if on cue, the door to the bridge slid open and the blonde haired pilot drifted in before setting down besides the captain.  
"Did I miss anything?" He asked as he landed next to her.

Murrue shook her head.  
"No it seems as though we haven't been detected and we don't have any ZAFT ships on our radar."

"So how's our new arrival?" Murrue inquired curtly as she overlooked reports coming in.

"He's interesting, he definitely seems military, and he has an air of discipline about him, though he does act a little candid, might be a personal cauterisation. He keeps to himself, but voices his opinion when he sees it necessary, otherwise, unremarkable." Mu stated from his observations.

"Is he telling us the truth?" Murrue asked as she set her report aside.

"Well, I believe his military history, it's not like he has any reason to lie about that, at least from what I can tell. But I get the feeling that he's letting on more than he knows." Mu told her as he thought to himself.

"What do you think about his personality?"

"He holds himself like a military officer, somewhat like me, but he's a little blunter about things, he's well spoken." Mu said before adding. "He made a rather resounding statement about personal responsibility and how Kira should step up and take responsibility rather than ignore it. He's got quite a way of looking at things, more so than me." Mu said with certainty.

Murrue was definitely surprised at hearing this, it certainly added quite a bit to the biography of their mysterious pilot. She thought about this before Natarle came in from the lower CIC.

"Lieutenant, I see you've returned." Natarle said as she saw him.

"Yeah, just had a little conversation with Kira and our new pilot."

"Did he tell you much?"

"Nothing of particular interest besides his philosophy of war." Mu replied.

"So did he make a good impression?" Natarle inquired.

"About as good as he could make one." Mu said to Natarle.

Murrue sighed, things most certainly seemed to be picking up, and in a much unexpected way, but then again there was something which seemed to bug her a little. The fact that Ray had been part of a secret project from an special operations branch being one such concern, she had never heard of the Special Operations Naval Warfare branch before, but it wouldn't surprise her if such an organisation existed.

XXXXX

Kira had been contemplating the reality he found himself in, whether or not he liked it, he was involved now, and it was up to him to take action. He didn't like it, but he understood it, there wasn't any way he could, seeing as how the situation turned out on Heliopolis, he would be required to act if he wanted to save his friends and the people on this ship.

He was still torn about the whole situation, but he knew that he couldn't run away from it anymore, he would have to fight if he wanted to see another tomorrow. However his thoughts turned back to his old friend Athrun, he couldn't help but wonder what he was doing at this time, but he felt that Athrun might have some difficulty coming to terms with fighting him.

Kira had begun to head to the room when he ran into his friends; they were all dressed in uniform, and being led by one of the Alliance staff officers.  
"Hey Kira."

"Everyone, what are you doing in uniform?" He asked as he looked over everyone.

"We thought about what Warrant Officer Hyung said earlier, and it struck us pretty hard how difficult it was for you. We thought that we could provide some assistance so we decided to volunteer."

"Yeah, letting you fight all of our battles doesn't seem fair on you. So we decided to help out." Tolle said honestly.

"We're here for you Kira." Sai said supportively.

"I still think the uniforms kind of suck in comparison to the ZAFT ones though." Tolle said.

Romero chastised him.  
"Hey, enough of that."

"Anyway, we'll be joining in, and remember we're here to help you through this."

"Wait, where's Flay?"

"Oh, she decided she didn't want to get involved so she's staying in the room."

"Hey kid, if you're going to keep piloting, I'd suggest you go and get yourself a pilot suit, operating in clothes isn't a particularly good idea."

Kira nodded understanding what he had been told; he headed down to the locker room. There was no doubt that he was going to need to dress accordingly, if he wanted to truly fight for those on this ship.

XXXXX

Ray had completed the examination with the ship's doctor, after nearly waiting fifteen minutes for them to complete a check-up a couple of civilians. His tests wouldn't be back for a while so he had time to make his trip to the bridge, where he could make his presence known, seeing as how the ZAFT force under the command of Rau should be making their move very soon.

The bridge door slid open and the raven haired pilot floated in, still adorned in his armoured pilot suit, the only difference was that his suit was opened from the chest and he had no helmet. The man gradually drifted over to the side of the captain and greeted her.  
"Captain Ramius, is there anything that I can help with?"

"Warrant Officer Hyung, have you completed your physical examination?" Murrue inquired as she eyed the man as he landed.

"I finished it fifteen minutes in; I got the basics down already, so I skimmed the rest." Ray explained.

Mu then greeted him.  
"So I assume then that everything's in order?"

"About as much as you could say, I'm sure Captain Ramius will have me complete a full medical exam later though, but for now, I figured coming in to offer assistance would be more important."

Murrue wasn't as impressed about him skipping over his medical exam, but she didn't voice her objections. The sound of alerts drew their attention, down in the lower CIC, Lieutenant Badgiruel called over.  
"Ma'am, we've detected movement, bearing off our starboard…"

"What is it?" Murrue asked.

"ZAFT Nazca-class, heading at high speed, they haven't spotted us, but it looks like they're moving to overtake the Archangel." The lieutenant reported.

"That can't be good." Mu said while observing the movement of the ship relative to their own.

"I guess my timing was impeccable."

Lieutenant Badgiruel appeared from the lower CIC, her immediate gaze was directed to the warrant officer, who she seemed to hold a level of disdain towards, though she didn't openly show it. Ray just took it in stride and said.  
"Lieutenant."

She returned formally with a salute. "Warrant Officer Hyung."

Murrue decided to get them on topic; she didn't need the lieutenant to start getting into any measure of a heated argument with the lieutenant.  
"What are we looking at?"

Mu stated. "We've got Rau La Creuset's force coming up against us; he's got one end of our path cut off with one ship, and more than likely another ship coming in from behind to cut our path of escape off. If I had to hazard a guess, we still have a fair distance before the second ship reaches weapons range, but they'd more than likely deploy suits to engage us."

"So, think we should breakthrough?" Ray suggested.

"Not in our current state, the moment we try to push on through we'd get hit from both ends, and I'd rather not risk sending the ship straight against Rau's Nazca-class in front of us." Captain Ramius told them.

"Outgunned and outnumbered nothing new there." Ray said before he stepped over to the fore end of the bridge.

The ship's operators noted his presence, but kept to themselves, despite the imposing look of his armoured suit. Ray paced a little before asking the captain.  
"So, I'm assuming we got a plan in place to push onto Artemis without getting shot to pieces?"

"In a manner of speaking I think I might have a solution." Mu said.

Murrue looked at Mu but Ray was the one who came forward and said.  
"Let me guess, you plan on leading a surprise attack to disable the Nazca-class and open up a hole so we can punch on through?" He said while looking up at the display.

"How did you know?" Mu said his curiosity piqued by how Ray managed to discern his plan.

"It makes sense, we can't meet them head on that'd be suicide and we can't turn back, we have nowhere to run. The only option is to make a hole and punch through it as quickly as possible before we're overwhelmed. I'd do the same thing in this sort of tactical situation." Ray replied confident in his assertion.

"Well captain, what do you think?"

"It makes sense, though we'll be forced into a difficult battle, do you think you can complete this within the allotted time span?" Murrue asked the veteran pilot.

"It's definitely possible." Mu said before adding. "Assuming that the path I take doesn't have any serious obstacles and my timing's right, I can get in and out quickly before they have a chance to respond."

"Lieutenant Badgiruel, what do you think?"

"I'd say this is a risky gambit, but it's definitely feasible." She said with certainty.

"Very well, the Eventide and the Strike will hang back and defend the ship, while the Moebius Zero launches a surprise attack on the Nazca-class ahead of us." Mu decided.

"If that's all, we better get going, we need to get the kid in uniform and I need to grab my helmet." Ray said before giving a quick two finger salute and exiting with Mu from the bridge.

Natarle wasn't so fond of Ray's behaviour, but she didn't immediately start chastising him. As he left, the lieutenant asked the acting captain.  
"Ma'am is this wise to have warrant officer Hyung deployed so soon?"

"It doesn't really matter at this point Natarle, we're cornered, and at this moment he's the only other pilot on the ship capable of fighting, we either use him or we don't. And I prefer to make use of his ability and skill rather than benching him."

The lieutenant seemed like she was going to say something else, but refrained. "Very well captain, if that's your judgement."

XXXXX

As they headed back out of the bridge Ray and Mu discussed their game plan.  
"Think you can handle protecting the ship alongside the kid?" Mu asked while they rode in the elevator.

"Depends, think you can disable the Nazca-class ship within the time span and make it back before we all die?" Ray asked the lieutenant.

Mu laughed.  
"Sounds like a bet."

"Too bad I don't have anything to bet with right now, though I'll have to take a personal inventory later." Ray said grinning. "Normally I'd trade drinks or favours, that or just our rosters."

"I don't think we've got anything in the way of alcohol on the ship, that or favours."

"I figured as much, and I'd rather not rush these sorts of things." Ray said before they arrived at a junction.

"Hmm, I haven't seen Kira around yet. Think I should go find the kid and getting him down here for the briefing?" Ray asked Mu.

Mu shook his head. "No I'll do it, he's still trying to wrap his mind around things right now, and your impromptu pep talk might not have left him feeling conflicted."

"Well unfortunately it's a fact of reality, and one I think he needs to understand soon." Ray stated promptly in a somewhat dejected fashion.

Ray's statement gave Mu pause. "Might be pressing him too hard there, he's still just a kid." He said to Ray as they went down to the crew quarters.

Ray shrugged before saying. "Yeah, but he's got himself into a similar situation, what I've learnt is, adapt or you'll die."

Mu seemed to pause at what Ray said before he replied.  
"As much as I'd like to think adapting would work well in any situation, the mentality isn't always shared by everyone, mind you. I'll pass on the sentiment to the kid though."

Mu, gleamed a little bit more about Ray's thought processes. And learnt a bit more insight into Ray's personality, something which seemed to get his attention, considering how Ray acted, he seemed rather blunt, even in this situation, despite acting so introvert before. The pilot hadn't known Kira for more than a few minutes and he seemed to have a rather indifferent opinion of the young man.

Ray seemed to act like he was trying to help the young man, though he might have been coming off rather harsh. In any event, their newest addition was making effort to get Kira active in the defence of the ship, which was good, but his approach left something to be desired. He couldn't dismiss that having Kira being able to defend the ship willingly to his best abilities would be preferable, but pressuring him in such a way might not work in the long run.

XXXXX

Ray had skipped by the locker room deciding to let Mu discuss the plan with Kira, Ray had no intention to go around bonding with the kid just yet, since the boy had more on his own plate. For now he settled with getting into his machine and preparing for their little escapade out in space.

This whole battle plan was going to be on rollercoaster of a ride, and he knew that they were going up against all the Gundams stolen by ZAFT and maybe a couple of other machines, depending on the situation. Regardless, this was going to be his first battle in a real mobile suit engagement, something which he had never really imagined himself ever doing.

Ray couldn't help but feel a nagging sensation in the back of his head; he knew that there were a lot of risks entailed in what he was doing. One mistake and everything goes to hell, then again the probability of survival in a really hectic combat situation was rather problematic, and seeing as there was no way to predict accurately what will happen when you engage in a battle with the enemy.

Within a matter of minutes Ray got back to his billet and grabbed his helmet and proceeded to the hangar bay, he spotted Kira's friends all dressed in uniforms going over a quick verbal orientation with Romero Pal, one of the bridge officers. This meant that they were all joining in for the duration of this battle.

The designated warrant officer managed to get down to the hangar bay where he found the Moebius Zero being hoisted onto the starboard launch bay. As Ray went down to the hangar floor, he was greeted by the crew chief, Murdoch.  
"Hey there, I'm Chief Petty Officer Murdoch Kojiro."

"Good to meet your Chief, I'm sure you've gotten the briefing on what's going on?"

"Yeah, we've been told to prepare your machine for launch, do you have any need for us to do any checks before you launch?"

"No, not right now, besides my machine's got self-diagnostics, if anything happens I'll know, but for now there shouldn't be an issue." Ray told the crew chief as he went to enter the hatch.

"Alright…" The chief then signalled to the deck crew. "Get the hatch ready for departure!"

The Eventide was capable of taxiing; thanks to a few mechanical modifications he made using some aircraft parts which would be able to fit inside the machine's frame. Ray's unit was moved onto the launching platform, his unit was loaded onto an electrical umbilical cable. As he positioned himself, his monitor lit up, and a display of Lieutenant Badgiruel appeared on the screen.  
"Warrant Officer…"

"Yes Lieutenant?" He queried.

"I hope you remember that the Strike's pilot is still very much new to this, make every effort to support him, I trust that you'll be able to handle this correct?" The officer said with all seriousness.

"I'll do what I can." Ray told her promptly.

As the display changed, he got a view of a familiar face, Miriallia, who he had recalled was supposed to be in the CIC by now.  
"Greetings Warrant Officer, I'm your support operator, Miriallia Haw."

"Nice to meet you, Ms Haw, am I cleared for launch?" Ray asked.

The girl nodded before signalling. "Catapult charge is nominal, you're cleared to go."

"Roger that, Delta Ex-S Eventide, launching." He said before he let loose the accelerator.

The Eventide rocketed out of the ship at high speed, leaving a trail of ionising plasma behind it, most in the crew weren't as surprised at the display of engine thrust as they were by the speed at which the machine's departure, the way the fighter moved was surprising and the fact that it moved at high speed also got their attention.

It zipped off into the black abyss, its engines leaving a trail of ionising plasma, a blurry line of light glimmered around the abyss. Inside the cockpit, Ray had never felt more alive, this feeling of freedom in the great expanse, though he recalled what he was doing out in this place. His attention was drawn to Alice.

"Ray, sensors are picking up movement, detection of multiple signatures, mobile suits, and three from Archangel's 6 o'clock position."

"Good, it looks like our little foray's about to begin." The man said with a wide grin.

XXXXX

(This is an old draft for the specifications, this isn't entirely cleaned up or fixed.)

AMS-05 Ex-Eventide

Eventide was a machine based on multiple machine types, intended to be a fusion between the MSA-0011 Ex-S Gundam, and the Delta Kai Gundam, the machine was meant to be a highly advanced fusion which imported parts and aspects, being a highly advanced all-rounder machine capable of taking on multiple mobile suits on its own.

The Eventide didn't look all that different, besides having been equipped with a massive smart beam rifle known as a Lancer which had a bayonet attachment; it also had a detachable grenade/missile launcher. The Lancer was more powerful than a regular beam rifle and could be adjusted accordingly to the user's need, from short beam spray mode to a concentrated beam fire which could destroy heavily armoured targets. The lancer was the tool for the job.

Multiple Beam Funnels were also attached, being split into two pieces; these funnels were larger than normal funnels due to their integrated upgrades, such as beam shield emitters and sabre adjustments. They were agile as well as powerful, being able to be fired at long range or used at an extensive distance with the quantum entanglement system.

Eventide's primary shield reflector was designed to switch between a shield and a massive particle cannon, though the cannon wasn't like a normal mega particle weapon, instead it was designed to be a VSBR, being able to attenuate the beam into a powerful lance capable of piercing shields and extremely thick armour. It could also channel into burst mode when the unit underwent NITRO+ transformation.

Another feature to note was the NITRO system which had been designed for normal pilots to use in combat, Ray had ALICE acting as a safety net to avoid him going berserk whenever he used the system. And he also altered the interface for his neural implants to avoid serious feedback problems which could cause brain damage.

The generator was meant to produce artificial conditions to simulate environments, but also as a neat bonus it also could simulate environments like low gravity or lower inertial resistance, around the generator than just within a set area. As long as the Plavsky generators were still receiving power, this wouldn't be an issue.

All of these improvements were made with the intention to see how far one could push the Eventide's abilities in simulated flight and see what could be adjusted for players, and maybe possibly pilots. As to why in god's name no one was sticking these generators in space shuttles or aircraft right now was because of the fact that the generators consumed an absurd amount of energy.

Real life fusion generators weren't in ready to generate the level of energy required for the Plavsky particle generator, the ones being used at the stadium used a micro-fusion generator the size of a house, and it also topped off with energy from multiple solar reactor facilities miles away from the city.

The sheer amount of energy has to be conserved constantly, and advanced systems require more energy than could be afforded. But still it was interesting enough to keep people funding research into Plavsky particle technologies and Gunpla, so there was a silver lining amidst all of it, hence the research projects to improve the personal interface for players, as it would ultimately be used in real life on day.

NITRO+ (PLUS) or Neural Interface Trial Response Operation – Prototype Limiter Unit Simulator was meant to be used to simulate the abilities of a special one off capability programmed by the operator, this was purely dependent on the operator, whether or not they could handle using such a system and their machine's total capabilities. This system was as explained by its name, an experimental one.

NITRO+ was intended to give him a trial system which would give him a massive edge in simulated battle, though it was largely to test how high his responses and reflexes could take him, it was actually based on the older military training system for the Mechanised Corps. Intended to forcibly push the limits of the augmented operators and see if they could handle the overall effect, in responding to all kinds of threats in combat.

The simulator used in NITRO was similar, but the added benefit was that it wasn't meant to drive him to exhaustion, but test how long he could endure the rush of a game. It was also intended to give the team time to develop new AIs for competitive battles, so they could use a pre-existing operator's abilities and program new elites for battles in the game.

And some might find this an unfair, but the whole point was to give the players a real challenge, not just reusing old simulated AIs, with Ray's abilities however, this was more for creating powerful bosses and special elite characters that could fight on the professional level as that of other players.


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Overture of war

XXXXX

From the Laurasia-class warship, the members of Creuset's team boarded their respective machines, each finalising their launch procedures. A young white haired pilot by the name of Yzak Joule busily looked over his new machine, quite content with its weapon armaments, he entered into his unit, strapping himself into his cockpit and activated his machine.

Once the blue and white unit was running, he exited the berthing bay and lined his machine up in parallel with the tan mobile suit, Buster which was exiting its berth as well, as it did so; he received a communication from his friend/comrade.  
"Hey Yzak, are you seriously taking that thing out?" Dearka asked him with a chuckle.

"Might as well use it, it'd be a good idea to see how well this oversized stick is." Yzak said as he had the Duel heft the shoulder mounted linear launcher cannon.

The gleaming black and white launcher sat in place, thrumming with power and strength. This neat piece of hardware was most certainly a hardy piece of firepower which he wanted to test for himself. He had decided that he would not hesitate to take his time shooting down the Strike, not after what happened with Miguel and the others who had been killed by the Strike. He also knew that the stakes involved in pursuing the Archangel was high, and letting them escape would only bring them further shame as an elite force.

He had thought back to his mother's insistence on him joining ZAFT's redcoats, he had been adamant about his goals in life, and he saw himself as something of a true coordinator. Yzak swore to himself he would see this war through, for his mother and his comrades in arms, he believed in the cause he fought for.

His attention was drawn to Dearka was busy humming to some tune whilst he waited in behind him. As the Blitz headed out, the launch bay was re-pressurised, as it opened up; he headed into the launching bay.

"All systems nominal, catapult power functioning. You have control." The operator informed him.

"Yzak Joule, Duel, launching!" He announced as he gunned the accelerator.

The Duel was catapulted from the ship, blazing a trail behind the Blitz. Behind it the Buster was loaded into the catapult, and Dearka pursued his comrades, all of them armed and ready for their foray against the Alliance Warship. Yzak anticipated a swift and brutal victory.

XXXXX

Back on the Archangel…

Ray had managed to situate the Eventide at an axis above the ship as he did so; he spotted the Moebius Zero zipping off around the ship, leaving a short trail of light from its exhaust as it burned a trail into the debris field. Mu made last minute exchange of words to encourage Kira; this was in order to keep Kira's hopes up and focused on the mission. Meanwhile Ray was busy killing some time, making a few scant manoeuvres around the perimeter of the ship.

The Eventide zipped through the open void at high speed, making sharp angled turns and quick course adjustments; it managed to get around the ship with relative ease. Strike had launched not long after the Eventide and took up position to the fore of the Archangel; Kira was doing his utmost to adapt to his environment.

Kira saw Ray and attempted to track Ray's movements, the speed of which Ray was pulling off his turns was amazing and almost mesmerising, the way Ray managed to do all of this on his own was a certain surprise as he never imagined many pilots being able to handle such forces, besides coordinators of course. Kira's focus was broken as he received a sudden message.

"Hey there kid, I'm assuming you've made a decision?" Ray asked with a certain edge in his time.

Kira recalled the way Ray had lectured him on his responsibility, it took him a moment but he replied. "I understand what's happening and I have to do what I can, if I want to keep my friends alive. I don't like wanting to fight like this, but I understand." The young man said with a sense of determination.

"Good, because you're going to be thrown into hell soon enough." Ray said with a grin and a tense tone.

Kira looked a little uncomfortable at this notion, but Ray then gave him words of encouragement.  
"Don't worry; I'll be here if you need the assist." He said as he then asked. "I'm assuming Mu went over our little battle plan?"

"Ah yes." The teen replied in response.

Ray decided to remind him. "Mu will be going out in the Moebius Zero. He'll be swinging ahead from the flank and attack the ship ahead of the Archangel, this will open up a hole for the Archangel to push through and allow us to make a run for Artemis. Until then you and I will be defending the ship."

"I'll be providing intermediate defence, and that means I'll be keeping off attackers from the immediate area of the Archangel's defences, you'll be aiming to keep any hostile that tries to go for the ship. But keep this in mind, you have to keep yourself alive, do not go too far out, or the Archangel won't be able to provide sufficient support. If you get into trouble, it might take too long for me or Mu to come in and help you."

Kira nodded. "I understand."

"In any case, good hunting and good luck, and remember, know your limits and don't push yourself more than you can handle or you'll find yourself at a serious disadvantage." He told Kira.

Ray closed the line before he sent the Eventide towards the rear of the Archangel, leaving a trail of fading light behind him, his Eventide was skirting along the sensory range of the ship, and he knew that this was going to be an interesting first encounter, as he'd need to gauge their abilities. He knew the Gundams were different here and they possessed a great deal of power, though revamp altered this somewhat.

Beam weapons weren't actually capable of straight out obliterating mobile suits, unless they landed a direct impact on the reactor, but in other circumstances, they just melted apart machines. This reminded Ray that he'd need to keep in mind about the Lancer beam rifle, as it was pretty damn powerful, he didn't want to accidentally kill one of the background characters without thinking.

In this battle Ray knew that he couldn't reveal the true capabilities of his machine just yet, if he did, he'd lose the advantage quickly, as Rau would prioritise him as a threat above all else. There was also the fact that the PLANTs supreme council will begin to look into his machine as a viable threat, they might dispatch a lot more to deal with the Archangel if that happened, that was not something he wanted to be responsible for.

He was sure that he could go toe to toe with the Gundams; the designs were all standard base designs, though if this is the revamp series, then he might have some difficulty. He knew that the updates included the Blitz being outfitted with an assault pack which could drain mobile suits of power and also the beam deflection emitters.

However that upgrade didn't come until later, it didn't seem like he'd run into any of such trouble right now, he'd have to be vigilant in the tactics which the Creuset team would employ, from the revamp there were a few tweaks in the characters, he knew that the team which was on approach from the after was going to consist of Yzak, Dearka, and Nicol.

Yzak he knew from all source material was a hot headed idiot who threw himself into the battle without a second thought, this leaves him openly vulnerable when getting countered, and of course he learns quickly so he isn't stupid enough to fall for a common tactic in battle. Yzak's unit should have a beam rifle and shield and swords, nothing fancy like the assault shroud until later.

Dearka was a laid back jerk who kept priding himself on being a skilled shooter, he was an arrogant pompous dick at times and he was abrasive, coupled with his tenacity in battle, he was as almost as stubborn as Yzak, but knows the weaknesses his suit possesses, he isn't looking for a quick death either, so he'll withdraw when he sees no other choice.

And finally there was the ever so critically thinking Nicol, the green haired kid was a rather tempered thinker, he's probably the only tactician in the entire team besides Rau and he's no idiot, he knows when and where to pick a fight. Of course if you can keep pressure on him, then it'll be next to impossible for him to counter easily, that said, he's smart enough to know when to back out of a fight and when to exploit an opening.

Ray stopped the Eventide roughly on the edge along the sensory range of the Archangel, patiently waiting for the trio of pilots to come in and attack, thankfully he didn't need to wait particularly long.

XXXXX

The ship's crew waited with bated breaths as their next engagement began, their newest operators were newbies but they were better than not having anyone manning the stations at all. Murue couldn't have wondered that they'd be forced to using civilians run the ship's advanced weapon systems.

On the bridge the crew were preparing for their immediate engagement, from the ship's sensor suite station, Romero called over.  
"We have multiple silhouettes inbound, confirmed, three signatures from our six o'clock, Duel, Blitz and the Buster!"

"They're throwing all the captured units at us now?" The lieutenant said in shock.

The others were just as surprised to hear that they'd go up against all of the G-weapons at once, but their surprise was suddenly broken by the Captain who shouted over the CIC.  
"CIC, respond!" Murrue called to them.

Natarle remembered where they were and quickly began to issue orders. "Right, arm helldarts, prepare CIWS for intermediate firing pattern. Charge valiants one and two."

"Careful not to hit the Strike or the Eventide." Badgiruel said as the weapon system targeted.

"Valiants are charged and ready!"

"Fire!" The order came.

XXXXX

From the aft of the ship the linear cannons fired off charged bursts, dispersing the gathered mobile suits, though it did little more than distract them, as for the actual pilots, they were quick to adjust to the attack pattern and move in to attack the ship. The suits split off, each circling around in one particular direction or another, their aim to split the defences across a wide area and then wear down the ship.

But as they close distance, they were beset by Ray in the Eventide. The Eventide's fighter form unleashed a burst of beam fire and machine gun bursts, harassing the mobile suits before they could effectively respond, his first target was the Duel. Ray spotted the armament change of the Duel and immediately identified it as the lost linear cannon which had supposed to have been taken by Rondo Gino in Heliopolis.

He didn't understand why it was here, but he could only assume that this thing was a pretty big threat to ignore, he gunned the Eventide and scattered the three machines with his barrage. In the midst of the confusion, the pilots caught sight of the Eventide and attempted to respond. Yzak attempted to reorient the Duel before firing a shot from his linear cannon at the offending craft.

"What the hell?" He said in confusion as his shot missed.

The machine dodged the shot, it was fast and nimble despite its size, but it was making another pass at him. Yzak had only moments to react; he took aim with the linear cannon and fired. The large linear cannon sent out a brilliantly lit streak of golden light, a metal slug ripping through the void and nearly striking the fast moving machine.

But his shot didn't connect as the fighter dodged again, this time making a quick flip and turn before it did G barrel roll and came back down on him, unleashing a burst of beam fire and laying into the Duel, Yzak was forced onto the defensive, but he was thankfully supported by the Buster, which unleashed a burst from its combined weapons, sending a concentrated attack against the offending craft, though it didn't have luck landing any strikes.

"What the hell is this thing?" Yzak said between gritted teeth.

"It looks like a fighter!" Nicol stated as he attempted to chase the craft down.

"A fighter which can out manoeuvre a mobile suit?" Dearka said incredulously as he attempted to hit the machine with his beam rifle.

"Doesn't matter, we're going to gut this damn thing!" Yzak yelled as he fired his linear cannon once more, sending a bolt of metal shards rippling through the empty void.

The Eventide dodged the strike and kept ahead of the attacks, making a swing around before letting loose with another burst from the Lancer, this time aiming for the Blitz. The attack managed to force the Blitz back and out of the way so the Eventide could use the close proximity to dissuade the others from trying to nail him while Nicol was in the line of fire.

The trio continued to bitterly tangle with the Eventide without a great deal of success, the Eventide continuing to harass them and roll away before they could strike back.

XXXXX

The battle Ray was fighting was pretty interesting, not nearly as gruelling as fighting in Indonesia or the Philippines, but this was certainly a battle, though a little surreal to him. Without the constant spray of gunfire and wire guided missiles or close air support raining death from above, it made it a little disconnected for him.

He wasn't on Earth, and his experience of space was only through simulated battles, but he knew the drill, keep your distance and take targets of opportunity, don't waste time and energy on things you shouldn't be doing and remember to keep situational awareness. The same old shit he had been doing for six years of his life, nothing's changed a great deal.

"Not so fast…" Ray said as he gunned the engines.

He angled himself correctly and took a few well aimed shots; two beam shots and a burst from his beam lancer, it was more than enough to get their attention, his attacks were blocked by the Duel as it could only dodge some of his attacks. The Duel's linear cannon spat back a burst of metal towards him, and he dodged, making a sharp pinwheel turn before circling around.

Beam shots from the Buster and Blitz went wide as they attempted to chase down the fighter before them. Ray was pretty much playing tag with the suits, though the difference here was that he was returning fire as he went along. The Eventide managed to make quick twists and turns, zipping around fire and lashing out against them, making sure to keep pressuring the trio.

He lay in bursts of beam blasts, striking against the Duel and baiting the pilot repeatedly, to which Yzak responded almost predictably so, letting a barrage of attacks to trail after the Eventide in a trail of cannon fire scattering through the void. Masterfully Ray managed to dodge each attack, making minute turns and adjustments to avoid getting hit by the enraged pilot's assault.

Buster unleashed a burst from its combined weapons and let loose a barrage in an effort to gun down the fighter, but firing from a distance and with a weapon meant for battleships wasn't a very effective tactic against a fast moving fighter in space, or in this case a transformed mobile suit with a veteran military pilot. The shots were well placed, but they weren't fast enough to adjust to the fighter's ability to manoeuvre around the attacks or make quick twists and turns and weave through the shots.

In the end, all the Buster did was waste energy on a target that kept moving away from its attacks, just as Ray needed it to. This method of tying down the two biggest pain in the neck machines was crucial in ensuring that the Archangel didn't sustain serious damage and keeps moving towards safety, as for the Blitz, the Blitz was never meant for combat against warships.

The stealth unit was meant for getting into close combat and dealing fatal blows before an enemy could respond, on the other hand, if it was already detected then it was moot as it would be forced to battle as a regular suit. With the Archangel, they already knew how to fend off the single machine, which worked well enough.

Ray fired an anchor into a piece of debris and used it to swing the Eventide around to flank the Duel and Buster, as he slung the corner and came around, the Duel attempted an intercept, but he expertly dodged the shots and returned fire, glancing the Duel across the arm and striking its shield before forcing it back.

He knew that Yzak would be pretty pissed at that, seeing as he wanted to keep his track record perfectly levelled. This act was quite annoying for sure. As they continued to exchange blows or more accurately as the trio of Gundams attempted to chase him down with futility. Ray continued to stay on ahead, returning fire as he switched directions and continuously circling around.

Of course he knew that this wouldn't work for long, eventually one of them would break formation and go after the Archangel, as if on cue, Ray spotted the Blitz peeling off from the others, now making its way around and heading to the ship. Ray had planned to intercept, but he was stopped by the Duel now moving into range and keeping him pinned with fire.

He backed off and turned the Eventide around, making sure to avoid getting caught in crossfire with the Buster which had appeared from his axis and lay down a barrage. He immediately knew that there wasn't anything he could do about the Blitz; this one was for the ship's crew to handle.

"Archangel, one machine got past me, it's the Blitz, heading in from position, mike 223, green 34, Charlie 102, he reported in as he turned the Eventide around.

XXXXX

Yzak wasn't sure what was going on, they didn't hear anything about another machine on the Alliance warship, but whatever was going on, there was a new machine, and it was making quite a commotion. Laying down a series of beam attacks, this new fighter appeared to be armed with beam weapons, something they hadn't seen before on any prior mobile weapon besides their own and the G-weapons.

But it wasn't only this; the machine's speed was also what caused a lot more frustrating issues, the way it seemed to dodge liner cannon fire and beam fire and skirt past their efforts to down it. Whoever was operating it was certainly skilled, almost alarmingly so, they were good at making hit and run attacks, flanking manoeuvres and even strafing attacks.

"What's with this new fighter?" Yzak grunted in frustration as his Duel continued to unleash more shots.

"Yzak, I'm going to chase it around the debris on your 8 o'clock, turning at, blue 102, yellow 334, get ready!" Dearka said as he chased the fighter craft, laying down as much firepower as he could as he pursued the craft.

"Alright!" Yzak understood what Dearka wanted to do and he supported it.

Circling around at high speed, Yzak calculated the range, at which he should be able to get the machine with his linear cannon. He spotted the craft as it emerged from the shadow of the asteroid, he didn't hesitate as he fired. His shot struck centre mass as ruptured the craft, in a moment the entire thing went up in a fireball.

Much to his surprise the fighter exploded in a ball of flames, engulfing his machine and sending him packing.  
"I did it!"

Unfortunately the Duel didn't see Eventide detach from the asteroid it had passed and manoeuvre around to shoot him. Yzak only had a split second's warning before his linear cannon was destroyed by the Eventide; the blast damaged his armour and sent the Duel packing, Dearka seeing his friend in trouble, leapt into relieve him before he was completely gutted.

"Yzak get back!" He yelled as he sent a barrage down on the Eventide.

The burst sent the fighter off and running back around into the debris field, meanwhile the Duel and Buster regrouped. Yzak cursing as loudly as could as he examined the damage to his machine.  
"Fuck, the right arm manipulators are damaged, it's just functional, and the shield's taken a beating."

"Yzak, you should pull back, you've already sustained damage to your machine, keeping this up is a bad idea."

"Shut up, I'm not out of tricks yet…" He said.

Yzak couldn't use his right arm manipulators anymore so he switched the shield from his left to his right  
"I'm not fond of this, but it'll have to do." He said as he flexed the controls.

"Fine, but you're down to melee, don't forget that."

"I know damn it, let's get going, there's still that Strike we can deal with." Yzak gritted as he struggled to bring the controls back.

The duo headed back to join up with Nicol in his attack on the ship. Yzak couldn't help but feel angry, their first time using these machines in battle, and they'd already gotten them damaged in some way shape or form. This wasn't turning out the way they had imagined, that was for sure, and it was all thanks to a bloody fighter craft of all things.

'You'll get yours bloody raven.' He thought as the two of them rushed to regroup.

XXXXX

On the Archangel the crew noted the return of the Eventide, looking unscathed and ready to provide aid, which it did almost immediately. The bridge crew was surprised at how fast the fighter was, being able to keep out of reach of the Buster and Duel and keep them from attacking the ship, the Blitz was still there, attacking them, but with the Eventide's return, the Blitz was now on the defensive.

Ray's beam attacks were very to the point, and he pressed the attack, chasing the Blitz away with ease. As he did so, he was contacted by the ship; Miriallia looked at him with genuine surprise on as she inquired.  
"Ray, where are the other machines gone?"

"I've disabled the linear cannon on the Duel, and damaged it lightly, it can't engage in ranged combat, but I'm sure it'll attempt melee if it could. The Buster depleted a lot of its missiles, so it'll likely rely on its primary armaments from now, though with the energy used, it might be half way now."

"You managed to fend off the two machines on your own?" The Lieutenant Badgiruel said with genuine surprise.

"Yeah, and I'll deal with the Blitz soon enough." He said as he continued to battle the black G-weapon.

Murrue was impressed, the man knew what he was doing, with the armaments of the two other machines down depleted, and it pressed them hard to engage effectively, leaving only two machines with the capacity to battle them on equal terms. This certainly alleviated some of their troubles, but this continued to raise more questions.

The most obvious being the fact that the Eventide was wielding beam weapons, and the other was the impressively advanced manoeuvrability of the craft. Being able to keep ahead of its enemies without much difficulty, this certainly rang bells in Murue's mind. She knew that the Earth Alliance was attempting to produce new mobile armours capable of fielding beam weapons, but this was a first in terms of a single fighter craft being able to do so with such high speed.

Of course this only did raise a lot of questions, mainly the power source and the hidden capabilities of the Eventide, no doubt that Ray was hiding a few abilities away from the crew. She thought she would need to pry into this later, but for now they were able to press on to Artemis, though the time was running out on whether or not Lieutenant La Flaga would be able to break through soon enough.

It was then they were alerted by Romero who called in.  
"Ma'am the Duel and Buster are approaching."

"Understood, provide firing support, keep them distracted and off from the Eventide." She ordered before asking. "What's the status on the Strike?"

"It's deadlocked with the Aegis, looks like they're in melee right now." Romero reported.

"Can we move to support?"

"No, they're too close, and they're drifting further out of range." The officer reported.

"Damn it." Murrue muttered as she watched the visual display on the battle between the Strike and Aegis.

Their attention was drawn to the trio of machines which had no regrouped and were now engaging they, missiles and beams lashing out at them. The Buster having combined weapons and struck a blow against the portside wing of the ship, the explosion rocked the ship, sending everyone rattling in their bones from the shock.

But the Eventide swooped in and chased the Buster off, laying down a barrage of beams, the attack kept the machine from focusing fire on them while they only had the Blitz to worry about in terms of ranged combat. Thanks to the Duel being unable to wield any weapons besides its beam sabre all it could do was dance around the edge of their defence area.

Murrue couldn't help but wonder how long they'd be able to sustain this sort of battle front for. They were drawing closer and closer towards the Nazca-class ahead, but there was still more time for the Lieutenant to breakthrough. She gritted her teeth as the ship shook from another explosion.

'He'll get through.' She kept her trust that the lieutenant would succeed.

XXXXX

With the Duel, Buster and Blitz, things looked very grim, the battle had gotten nowhere and fast, their engagement was continuously dragging on and on, with little to no success. The fighter craft was still harassing them and baiting them into attacking; their attacks weren't able to make contact thanks to the speed at which Ray was able to keep ahead of them.

The Duel was still going at it, even though it's right arm was damaged, it was still able to use a beam sabre in its place but with trying to chase down the Eventide, it was a futile gesture. The fighter was too fast to keep up with.

"What the hell is with this thing, it keeps coming back for more!" Dearka grunted as he tried dodging another burst of beam fire which nearly lanced the Buster's left arm.

"Yzak, we're wasting a lot of energy, this fight's draining us a lot." Nicol warned as they continued to exchange fire.

"Why, why the hell can't down this one machine? It's a damn fighter, not a mobile suit!" The hot headed pilot snarled as he tried to pin the machine down.

It was either weaving through his shots or sped ahead of his attacks, he was beginning to hold total and utter contempt for the bastard operating the machine. Their strategy was failing to pieces and it was clearly going nowhere fast, with the ship being able to hold its own against them with the support of the fighter, it was clear that they were going to lose out when it came to firepower.

Duel was in no shape for a fight with the ship and the fighter, and Buster had lost a lot of its ammunition, keeping this fight going was a good way to get killed. Blitz was the only one which remained active at least in terms of armaments, and thanks to the fact that Nicol knew better than to let the enemy machine tie him down in a competition for range or speed.

He had learnt quickly in terms of keeping his machine from getting blasted apart by remaining at a range which he was able to quickly dodge. Nicol didn't need to see that things were bad, he called to his fellow teammates.  
"Yzak, we can't keep this up, our machines have already used up more than half our power, if we keep this up we're going to be overwhelmed."

"I hate to admit it, but we don't have much choice, Nicol's right." Dearka said as he attempted to defend himself.

"Fuck…" Yzak muttered angrily.

The Duel's pilot then noticed the Strike still battling it out with the Aegis. "If we're going to pull back, I'll at least add the Strike to my list of kills." Yzak said bitterly as he turned his machine around and went to join the Aegis in its dogfight.

"Hey wait up!" Dearka said as he turned to join.

Nicol was the last the go after them, but not before examining the scene of the mysterious fighter regrouping with the ship, he turned and chased after his teammates.

XXXXX

On the bridge the crew sighed a breath of relief as the 3 G-weapons peeled off, none of them looked interested in keeping up this futile battle. They broke away only for Romero to report in.  
"Ma'am the Duel, Blitz and Buster have all pulled away, they're moving to engage the Strike!"

"What?" Murrue exclaimed.

The screen displayed the machines going off to where the Strike was, and it was still engaged in a fight with the Aegis of all things. This didn't bode well in any sense, the Strike was struggling with just the Aegis, and getting thrown in with the other G-weapons put it at a severe disadvantage to put it mildly.

Ray then appeared on screen. "Hey there… damn, piloting against three of those pricks took a toll on me, just let me catch my breath."

"You've done a lot; we can't thank you enough, but the Strike." Murrue began, Ray cut her off.

"I know, they're moving off to overwhelm Kira, I told that kid to stay close to the ship…" Ray muttered as he caught his breath. "Alright, I'll head off to assist."

Murrue said with some concern. "Are you sure? You seemed to have used a lot of energy keeping the machines off our back."

"Not a problem for me, the Eventide can handle it, besides rescuing that idiot is a lot more important." Ray said as he swung around the flank of the ship and sped off at high speed.

As Ray's unit rushed off to support the Strike, Kuzzey asked. "Ma'am should we signal Lieutenant La Flaga and tell him what's going on?"

"Please do." Murrue said to their communications operator.

As they watched, they spotted Kira's unit begin to falter under the combined firepower of all 4 machines, either due to the continuous battle having been fought between Strike and Aegis or Kira's reckless use of energy, the Strike's PS armour had finally exhausted itself. The white and blue coloured armour faded and the suit was suddenly turned to its default greyish white.

It didn't take much effort for the Aegis to transform and grapple the now powerless machine. It was also at this time that the Archangel fired its main cannons, unleashing a burst of positron fire at the Nazca-class ahead of it, this indicating that the passage way was now clear, the Archangel's engines burned brilliantly as it sped onwards.

Captain Ramius called from the ship. "Ray, the Strike's lost power and has been captured by the Aegis, we need you to help and recover Kira, please hurry we're going to be breaking through the gap at any moment." She said in earnest.

"I'm already on my way, I knew this would happen." The man said with a sigh before he added.

"Captain, I need you to prepare the Strike's Launcher pack, and get it onto the catapult, I'll drive the others away from the Strike and allow Kira to make a docking in space, the suit's power systems should be enough to return back to the battle and fend off further attacks." He told them.

"Seriously?" The woman said with a little scepticism.

"I can't engage any more than I have, and my Eventide's running low of power, I can only provide support and return, Mu will be able to return, so with the Strike ready, it'll be enough."

"Understood, good luck." Murrue told him.

Ray had pretty much said a bold faced lie, but this was to keep them from suspecting the Eventide's true capabilities, it worked for this situation, and it would most likely buy him time to think about future approaches to this topic. As he headed onwards, he used Eventide's full burners, dumping as much energy into the thrusters as possible.

He burst through the formation of suits, with his beam Lancer and missiles, letting them know he was onto them. The Gundams split off trying to shoot him down, but Ray had hoped for them to open up a hole in their formation to which they did. He made a beeline and began to attack the Aegis.

The scenario turned on its head, as Ray managed to break through to the Strike, unleashing a burst from his Vulcan machine guns, he sprayed the Aegis with bullets, the impacts wouldn't do much against the phase shift armour, but it was enough to get Zala to break off his control over the Strike.

Within moments the Aegis pulled away and transformed in order to defend itself and retaliate against the Eventide, however without much success as Ray pulled around and began to strafe the mobile suit from various directions. Ray knew that this wouldn't work for long, not with the Buster and Duel right behind.

"Looks like you got the kid freed!" Ray heard his com channel come to life.

"Yeah and you took your sweet time getting back here." Ray said as he continued to pelt the mobile suits with beam shots and dodge retaliatory fire.

The Moebius Zero had made its return, firing off its main gun and unleashing its multiple barrelled pods, swamping the Blitz with fire and chasing the others off. It allowed Kira to break off and return to the ship while they tied them down from pursuing Kira, or at least slowed them down long enough for him to get away and rearm.

Mu was able to go and keep the Blitz and Aegis busy with his mobile armour, while Ray drew the attention of the Duel and Buster, which were both determined to down his sorry ass fast, but without luck. Duel was still attempting to melee him while the Buster let loose constant barrage attacks, again though, Eventide was too quick for getting pinned by heavy fire.

"Sorry mate, good try shite luck!" Ray said as he did a flip and turn.

He strafed the Buster from the flank and managed to disable one of his beam weapons, causing it to explode in a brilliant explosion of light, the Buster was now drawing back as it realised it was outgunned. Duel was covering the Buster with its shield, but a burst of high powered fire interrupted the battle.

Strike had successfully docked and was coming back with full armaments and energy, laying down punishing levels of fire against the other Gundams. It was at this point that the Creuset team couldn't keep up the fight, deciding to withdraw at the lack of energy and armaments to match this battle.

"Phew, that was a close one." Ray said as they returned back to the ship.

"Tell me about it!" Mu said with an exhausted sigh. "I've had my fair share of close calls but nothing like this." He said promptly.

They returned to the ship, one after another landing as quickly as possible before the ship made a furious run to the safety of Artemis. Down in the hangar, the trio were welcomed by the crew cheering them on; their first sortie and they had gotten out of it alive. It was certainly an achievement, especially for Kira, who had survived the worst of it all.

As they approached Artemis, Ray went over to greet Kira.  
"Hey there kid."

"Ah Ray!" The young man said with a look of gratitude. "I have to thank you for helping me."

"No worries, I won't abandon my wingman so readily. Besides, it'd look bad to lose the Strike after all the trouble we went through." Ray said with a smile.

"We should be safe now right?"

"Umm, actually I wanted to make sure of something."

"Huh?"

"Did you put a lock on the Strike's OS?"

"Not yet, why?"

"It's very important that you do, look, not to go into too much detail, but there aren't people who share the same views as you do, and would likely exploit your abilities for their own agenda. I'd like for you to safeguard the information in your machine ASAP. I'll be waiting in the mess hall getting something to drink; I'll meet you there or somewhere later, alright?" He asked the young man.

"Umm alright." Kira said understanding, he watched Ray drift away to the hangar exit.

XXXXX

Ray downed a bottle of Gatorade he had on his suit, the energy drink certainly gave him a little more kick, he was exhausted, it had been a year since he had to operate a machine at full calibre, and this was the seventh time he'd operated a flight unit in real combat since his days in the military. It wasn't nearly as bad as attempting to pull of run down on an insurgent base.

His body shook for that experience, but this one kept him running back and forth so much, your sense of direction has to adjust to looking in all directions. Spatial awareness was a very important thing to remember in real life, it wasn't like in Gundam where it was some kind of special trait, it was an ability most people learn when driving or piloting.

Rubbing his arms, he felt the stiffness in his body subside, as he did so, he picked up his compact computer and signalled into the Eventide. Ray didn't waste any time contacting Alice.  
"Alice, have you prepared contingency plan Alpha?"

"Preparations are complete, I've got the dummy program prepared for use, all relevant files have been uploaded, is there anything else you require?"

"No, not yet, just remain on standby for contingency beta; if things don't work out in the given time, we break out of here ASAP. Just remember to have our window of opportunity prepared before they notice." He told the AI.

"Understood, remaining on standby."

"I'll be preoccupied, if I don't contact you again after I've been taken then enact emergency contingency plan gamma, it'll be really ugly, but it'll work."

"Very well."

Ray smiled inwardly.  
'Showtime ladies…'

XXXXX

AN: Alright, I've got a few announcements, this story's got a ton of updates coming, and I'm not even joking, I've made eleven chapters in advance, so don't worry about content not arriving.

The issue is that the story diverges into three potential routes, which I'm not sure I want to take any of them yet. And also I'm going on vacation for a few days soon, so I'll be uploading a new chapter on Sunday or Saturday, keep on the lookout.

This chapter wasn't as action packed, and next chapter will be much shorter.

But here's the thing, Chapter 5 will be an ugly business, and you'll see why.


	4. Chapter 3

The Archangel's entry into the Artemis satellite installation had been without difficulty, though as soon as the doors closed behind them, the crew noticed something out of place. There were dozens of armed mobile armours and troop transports mobilised to the ship, and the bridge crew was met by a detachment of armed troops.

"Sir, what's the meaning of this?" Murrue demanded, clearly intimidated by the sudden an unprovoked show of force.

"Your vessel is unregistered with us, we only have your word that you are who you say you are, until we can confirm your identity, it is questionable as to whether or not you are our allies."

"This is a momentary detainment, and we will allow you and your crew to rest and reprieve before acting out our orders." The officer stated promptly before giving her a salute.

They were left at uneasy by this development, but they didn't want to aggravate their situation, these officers most certainly didn't seem like the ones who would use force the restrain them. They subsumed and resigned themselves as the ship was docked into the port; their ship was locked down by mechanical arms.

XXXXX

Within the time they were docked, the officers were gathered up and taken into the stations interior while the rest of the crew were carolled into the mess hall with the civilians. Ray was already there when the whole mess began, he didn't want to have to get dragged out of his room by the armed soldiers, and also because he wanted to pass a little bit of knowledge onto the kids before he was taken.

"Ray what's going on?"

"Not much, I was eating a snack when this all began, been waiting here for you guys."

"Apparently we don't have an identification friend or foe code because this is an experimental warship."

"Is that really a big deal?"

"Apparently so."

"It would be if this was the case."

"Do you know why they're holding us here?"

Ray replied with a smirk.  
"Politics."

"What?" They said in surprise at the topic.

"I'm probably guessing that you guys know everything there is to know in the Alliance right?" He asked them aloud.

"Yeah, the Earth Alliance was established for the sake of creating a unified front for all humanity to stand together within."

"It's only out of convenience; the Earth Alliance was originally on the verge of collapsing prior to the development of Coordinators. The sudden surge in Coordinators turned the situation around rapidly, with the hatred and anger of the global situation turning on its heads thanks to genetically altered humans."

The group looked a little concerned at this revelation.  
"The whole issue was that without Coordinators, the Earth Alliance would be in shambles and power blocs would be fighting each other rather than just a specific enemy. Of course with the joint forces battling against Coordinators as a common enemy, the trouble was that each power bloc hadn't forgotten about previous political tensions or beliefs."

"So what does this have to do with us?"

"A lot actually, the Atlantic Federation dumped a lot of resources and technology into developing this ship along with the G-weapons, to capture it would be a major boon for the Eurasian Federation, which is why they want to capture it so badly. It's also been co developed by the Orb Union, which is another thing why the Eurasian Federation wants it so badly."

"Orb was responsible for building this ship?"

"Yeah, I do work in the Special Forces, and I had friends in a few places who told me about whatever knowledge they had on this secret project. In any event, the ship was built as part of a military initiative, and the Union and the Atlantic Federation was involved."

"Wow that really puts things into perspective." Sai said with surprise.

"Are you serious?" Tolle exclaimed as he couldn't believe his ears.

"In any event, what does this mean for us?"

"The Eurasian Federation would likely try to use this as leverage against the Atlantic Federation, either that or keep this knowledge to themselves and try developing independently. That wouldn't come as a surprise to me."

"Is that what's going on in the EA?"

"I'm a Special Forces operator; it comes with the territory to know these things about the internal workings of the organisation you're supposed to be working for. I just happened to be better versed in understanding aspects of politics; it's not surprising how things have turned out. But regardless, you can see the conundrum this places the ship in." He told them.

"So what's going to happen?" Sai asked intently.

"Depends on circumstances, they might detain us indefinitely for knowledge, or they might negotiate for our release, regardless, this entire situation is uncertain, we'll know soon enough." Ray said as they saw a cloister of men discussing something.

"What should we do?" Kuzzey asked his friends uncertainly.

"In an uncertain or unexpected situation, I'd say keep on the lookout for information, and if you come to the conclusion in which your life is threatened for the interest of those who seek self-gratification for their own cause or goal, fuck em. Never bow your head, I'd rather fight and die than give in so readily. But, that's just me." Ray said with a shrug.

"What about those of us who are caught up in this mess for nothing?"

"What can I say; it's all probability and circumstance." Ray replied promptly.

"What about Kira? Isn't he in danger of getting found out?"

"They'd label him as some kind of defector or traitor wouldn't they?"

Kira stopped then and realised the implications of his situation, despite being a citizen of the Orb Union, he was indeed a target of concern, thanks to the fact that he could pilot the Strike, and his integral knowledge would certainly draw attention, regardless of his status as a neutral citizen. He was involved, whether he liked it or not.

Ray grabbed Kira by the shoulder and shook him out of his momentary pause, looking him dead in the eyes, Ray said with a great sense of certainty. "No matter what they say, you're still human kid, don't ever forget that, and don't buy into the bullshit some people say about you to make themselves feel better, you're worth more than their words. You have a cause, and you have reason, keep following it, and you'll find peace of mind. If not, then you'll probably end up like me before making peace with your decisions, if that ever happens, I owe you a drink."

As he finished, a group of men entered into the mess hall, with guards.  
This was the vice commander in charge of the installation, Commander Delton or something, he waited patiently with a posse of armed troops waiting by the entrance.  
"We're looking for a Special Forces operator by the name of Ray Hyung, he's been requested by the base commander."

Ray didn't bother letting anyone try stopping him, seeing as he was someone who could speak, and he knew what he was doing.  
"I'm here." He said voluntarily.

"You're Warrant Officer Ray Hyung?"

"What gave it away?" Ray said gesturing to the emblem on his dark grey pattern uniform.

Ray had made the emblem of his old uniform and tweaked it for the EA's version officer uniform; he had his markings standout clearly.  
"So you're the pilot of the fighter craft located in the hangar correct?"

"Yeah."

"That's yes sir, to you warrant officer."

"Yes sir." Ray straightened up and said promptly, betraying no emotion.

The commander then gestured to him.  
"Your presence is required so we'll get going."

"Ray!"

"I'll be fine, I'll see you kids around, don't worry." Ray said as he followed after the base commander.

XXXXX

The base officer led him into the interior of the ship, the trip taking him aboard a small transport shuttle with barely enough room to spare; there was also the noticeable number of non-crew members currently scurrying aboard the ship. As they got to the nearby airlock and boarded a transport over to the port, Ray admired the detail of the interior; the circular cylinder interior was filled with scaffolding and docking berths for ships and mobile armour.

'How many ships did they shove into this thing?' Ray asked himself as he looked at the fleet within the station.

Once arriving at the docks, he was taken from the shuttle to the interior with haste, they ultimately arrived a half hour later, after passing through two elevators and a few junctions. They arrived in the private office of Rear Admiral Garcia, the tubby piece of shit who had in the series, managed to survive near death incidents.

The interior of the office was darkened, illuminated by a series of vibrant screens which almost seemed to make the room lively with green lush forests and grasslands along with flowing rivers of water. It was of course false, as it was mostly about Garcia engaging in his own passions of Earth, using display screens to give the impression of calm.

The man smiled as Ray approached.  
"So you are the Special Forces operative on the ship? Warrant Officer 1st Class, Ray Hyung, Alliance Special Operations Warfare division." The man said while looking at the file obtained from the Archangel.

"That's me sir." Ray said promptly.

"Surprising turn of events, I must say, for a man of your skill and profession to end up on that ship unannounced, not to mention from a branch I haven't heard of, or at least none that I know of." Garcia stated calmly.

Ray replied calculatingly. "The Special Operations Warfare branch is very careful in what information it releases, as for the nature of my presence on the Archangel, I'm pretty sure that Lieutenant La Flaga has made it clear that my arrival was by pure incidence, and that I decided to join them, in order to return back to HQ."

"Yes, yes, I've read the report, though I don't quite understand is why a technical combat specialist is doing all the way out here with an advanced prototype machine, one which has no production markings or have any declared origins." The officer said promptly while looking over images of the Eventide secured in the ship.

"That's part of our charm, deny everything, if you're fishing for information you're barking up the wrong tree Rear Admiral Garcia." Ray said promptly with his eyes still locked on the man.

Garcia didn't react as much, his eyes narrowed at Ray. "So you know who I am?"

Ray elaborated. "I've read a few reports on military personnel and officers who have been in active combat throughout the war, I know about the battle at Grimaldy, don't need to know more than that."

"You're well informed; you've got quite a way of getting around without anyone knowing more about you." The officer said before leaning back in his chair, hands folded together.

"There's no need to beat around the bush Commander, I do have a way of telling when someone wants something." Ray panned; he hit the mark pretty quickly.

"Straight to the point, like a good soldier." Garcia seemed to twitch at Ray's observation.

"The project's goal and aim is different from that of the G-weapons project, if you're wondering. But I'm assuming you've already discerned my reason for being involved?" Ray asked him casually remaining aloof of his involvement.

"We were informed by Captain Ramius on the incident, and we understand you were thrown into an unexpected situation." Garcia stated.

Ray knew that Garcia was a greedy pig, aiming to further his own goals, and gain a greater position within the Eurasian Federation by presenting them with viable results from stealing secrets from the Earth Alliance Forces. He had also known that Garcia was an arrogant fool, who believed that he and Artemis would be able to stay out of reach of anything that could harm them.

But he knew better than that, Nicol in this timeline was most certainly no coward, he was smart, and he was somewhat analytical, a very sharp minded young man who could exploit a situation in his favour. No doubt the man was planning his attack right now, it was only a matter of time, it was now just a matter of getting Garcia to take his bait.

"I'm guessing you're after the G-weapons data." Ray said promptly.

"How did you pick up on that?" Garcia said questioningly.

"Alliance Intelligence suspected you might be up to no good, though they never had solid evidence to prove that. You've been sitting on top of quite a few machines here in your facility, including a few prototypes, there was some rumour you were even planning on calling upon a few special pieces of equipment." Ray elaborated clearly. "It's kind of suspicious for an installation to take such materials and equipment when it had no reason to, a facility with little strategic purpose?" He said as he looked at Garcia.

Garcia definitely twitched at that response.  
"So you've already figured it out?"

"I won't bother with the haggling, but I don't have the data for the G-weapons project which I have no doubt you want. However, I do have something else which I figure you could use."

"Is that so? And what information could you possibly give me that'd be worth letting you go?"

"I know of a smaller backdoor project that the Earth Alliance contracted a few companies to look into, mobile suits with a standardized natural use OS."

This certainly got Garcia's interest as well as his aide's.  
"You're joking right? A natural operated OS for mass produced mobile suits under Alliance construction without anyone knowing?"

"It's true, seeing as how most of you have been caught up with attempting to steal the G-weapons, the Alliance's private development groups have been hard at work for potential candidates for mass produced units. G-weapons were only supported thanks to Halberton."

"Show me then."

Ray produced a card small enough to fit into a person's hand; he placed it onto the desk. Garcia took a look at the small data chip, placing it into the console; he brought up the data on the card. Garcia's eyes turned to surprise and wonder, the data was on the 105 Dagger units, which also included data on the variants.

"These are." He continued to look, but the rest was password protected. "What's this?"

"Unless I have a guarantee that you'll let us on our way and you're going to resupply the ship, I won't let you look into that further." Ray stated coldly.

Garcia didn't seem to appreciate this sentiment, especially from someone of lower rank, but Ray was Special Forces, his position in the Alliance was high. Garcia looked interested alright, the value of gaining access to a human OS along with a viable mobile suit design which could utilise it. This was a gift wrapped in a box, and the man could tell.  
"What do you want for it?" Garcia asked seriously.

"Limited restriction, you lift your custody of the ship in 24 hours and resupply the ship with the necessary materials we need, and let us off. And I let you keep the OS and the base design mobile suit for the Alliance's mobile weapon's project. Though it wouldn't look like much, it will be put into mass production soon." Ray told him.

Garcia thought about this, he knew that getting the full OS on the Strike plus the combat data would be a real challenge, considering how stubborn Captain Ramius was and the crew. But he could always backstab Rayleigh, and take the data anyway; in any case, he'd kill two birds with one stone.

Though he wasn't sure about where Ray stood, the man was from the Special Forces, detaining him longer than necessary might be a good way to get into more trouble than it was worth.  
"Very well, we'll begin to resupply your ship with necessary supplies, though be warned, we'll supply you over the course of the time allotted over 24 hours."

Ray saluted the man who returned it. With the data given, he knew it would convince the Commander to allow small amounts of supply transfer; it would give the ship a temporary boost in the right direction. Not only that, but the Eurasian Federation would be able to produce mobile suits to rival the Atlantic Federation, something which would throw the two powers into conflict with one another.

He then gave Garcia the password access.  
"Insert code Sierra, seven, six, zero, seven, five."

The password was accepted and the Commander looked upon the data provided.  
"Marvellous, we'll begin the transfer of supplies as soon as possible, till then you'll be escorted back to your fellow officers in the designated lounge and we'll have you transferred back to your ship at the earliest convenience."

"I do look forward to it." Ray told the man.

The guards escorted Ray out of the room, leading him down the hallway and to an officer's lodge which was located several levels down, it was some distance from the ship, but still there.

XXXXX

Ray entered the officer's lounge in a hush, closing the doors behind him; he was greeted by the others from the ship.  
"Warrant Officer, I see you're doing well."

"Yeah, no thanks to this guy." Ray gestured to Mu.

"I thought you'd have better luck than us. Seeing as you did work for intelligence on this matter."

"I got to speak with Garcia; he's about as readable as anyone is." Ray said while he took a stroll around the room.

"So not a particularly resounding impression?" Murrue asked.

"Not that I could think of." Ray replied as he looked through cabinets located around the room.

Ray paused as he found a glass framed wooden oak cabinet with ornate handles; he opened it up and then said.  
"He's pretty determined to get information on the Strike and the ship."

"So what did you tell him?"

"I deferred to an agreement in which we could all benefit from."

"Such as?" Mu said with a curious expectation.

"The plans for a natural use OS system with a mobile suit schematic." Ray said with a shrug.

"WHAT?" Natarle exclaimed in shock.

"I offered something else just as valuable so that he'd let us go sooner." Ray justified so casually while he carefully searched for a bottle of brandy.

"And what was that?" Murrue asked intently, clearly she wasn't patient with his issue breaking a lot of regulations off the bat along with confidentiality.

"Data on a secret mobile suit project, Code Named: Gladius, a mass produced mobile suit with OS meant for natural pilots. I told him I'd give him a copy of the entire project if he let the Archangel go sooner." He explained to them.

"You did what?" Lieutenant Badgierul said in surprise, still reeling from all this new information.

"I fed him a bunch of bullshit, the data I gave him was on a single machine which hadn't even reached the prototype stage, it's all theoretical right now, and he doesn't have a clue it's all simulated. The actual project was to lighten the armour design on a suit based on the Strike by removing a lot of abilities, like using phase shift armour, they're only outfitted with a limited amount of armaments and they don't have particularly good power systems." Ray said while he removed a shiny burgundy bottle.

"Seriously?" Mu said as he was now clearly surprised at this revelation.

"When was this project proposed?" Murrue asked.

"I can't say, I think it was right before the original G-weapons project plan was approved, the committee in charge had to make a decision, though with Admiral Halberton, they supported it, out of mutual interest." Ray explained.

"The plan was to rush production with cheap mass produced units which they could field against ZAFT, I'm sure you've all familiarised yourselves with quantity versus quality right?"

"So the project that Earth Alliance HQ had planned is meant to just swamp the ZAFT forces with numbers and hope to win?" Mu inquired while trying to wrap his head around the planning.

"Originally yes, though this was put onto the back burner after the G-weapons project took precedence, funding was shifted and the division in charge was given only time to go through simulations and theoretical project parameters, which means that the crap I just gave Garcia would need a lot of refinement and evaluation before it even got into production."

"Wouldn't that be enough though?" Natarle said insistently.

"No not really, the project ran into multiple issues, one being weight, the armour they used for the suit prototypes proved cumbersome so they were planning on stripping it down. Another problem was the lack of flexibility thanks to the limited power systems; they kept running into trouble with output and eventually decided to change the specifications." He explained. "It'll probably be grounded the moment they try doing it themselves." He shrugged.

"So what do we do now? Do we sit and wait for him to keep his promise, even though he has no reason to?"

"I didn't give him false data for no reason, I do have a plan to make a hasty exit when things go topside."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Garcia's arrogant, chock full of himself, he thinks that he's safe behind the shield of Artemis and it's umbrella, and his plans don't involve more than getting recognition and a better position in the Eurasian Federation. I read the asshole's profile." Ray said while looking at the bottle of liquor in front of him.

"So what about the transfer of supplies?"

"They're proceeding, albeit at a limited pace, we should be at least have the basics within 24 hours, though I haven't a clue as to what they're loading first."

"Warrant officer, you must understand that you've intentionally leaked information, and what you've said about this main is that he intends to steal the data from the Strike, there's no guarantee he'll release us the moment he gets what he wants." Natarle restated.

"I know, and I'm betting on a few things right now."

"What, could you be possibly betting on?"

"What could possibly factor into all of this that would enable us to escape sooner?"

"On this installation, do you think that these folk are truly safe from ZAFT?"

"What are you talking about?" Murrue asked with a raised brow.

"Think about it, our enemy is Rau Le Creuset, do you think he and ZAFT are just going to roll over when they have the opportunity to wipe out or capture the Strike and the Archangel all in one move?" Ray asked as he poured himself a glass of brandy.

"You think he's going to attack?" Mu said with a critical look.

"I'm betting on it, ZAFT's calling in reinforcements as we speak, of course Rau's force will act before then, I know from the reports that they're smart, and they'd be able to pull off an attack given their resources and ingenuity. And because they have the Blitz."

"You know about the Blitz?" Murrue said clearly surprised.

"I work for the Alliance Special Forces, and I have contacts with some people in the Intelligence community, it's not hard to hear a bit about some stuff, I got told of a mobile suit which could turn invisible, something which I assume was related to the Blitz."

"Mirage colloid armour?"

"What's that?"

"The Blitz can emit a type of particle or material which coats its armour while not using Phase Shift and essentially turn invisible or transparent for a limited period of time."

"How did you know that?" Murrue looked at him with a raised eyebrow and a tone of suspicion.

"I told you I heard things, I don't have the technical knowhow, but I did get some information through people who knew about the G-weapons project." Ray said as he downed another cup of brandy. "In any event, the Blitz will probably launch a surprise attack the moment the installation drops its guard." Ray tried to defend his position.

He knew that this was utter bull, but he had to work with something, the thing is that rational thinking worked in his favour as the Alliance was wrought with politics, and he was logical in his analysis. No one outside of the crew knew that the Blitz possessed the ability to turn invisible, and Garcia had no clue.

"Do you really think that?"

"It's a matter of perspective, and from understanding tactics."

"I'm thinking from the perspective of Rau's force, he's no idiot and considering his men infiltrated Heliopolis, they've got a keen sense in launching infiltrations, they know how to hit a target. The base's commander is lax and the installation doesn't keep the barrier operational all the time, there'd be no point, and Garcia doesn't know what it's like fighting Rau so he thinks he's safe."

"So the moment he lulls in attention, ZAFT comes running in, with all of us still aboard the station?"

"They'd take out the barrier emitters and then launch a full scale assault with ships and mobile suits."

"Are you sure this is the likeliest outcome?"

"If that doesn't work, I do have a contingency."

"A contingency?"

"A virus, I uploaded it into Artemis's computers the moment Garcia asked for the transfer, if Garcia doesn't release us in 24 hours, the whole station's command system goes berserk and we escape in the ensuing chaos."

"Is that even possible?"

"Yeah it's very much possible, I already mapped out the place in my head and I did bring along one of my tools."

"What's that?"

"A mini-tool, I can use it to guide us back to the ship and unlock doors along the way, I always hide it somewhere in my body."

"That was in your mouth?"

"Yeah, I know it's not the best place to be putting tools, but it works."

"How can you be so certain any of your plans will work?"

"Through observation and critical thinking, those on this station are inexperienced and lax, they don't understand the dangers they're in and they think they're safe. They're still military, but thanks to having no enemy to fight or being under constant threat of attack, it made them ill prepared to fight against a real threat. We could push right through without much difficulty."

"But do you honestly believe that this would be the most likely course of action?"

"If they don't I'll eat my own words, but seeing as we're up against Rau, there's a certainty that the man will take any measure to win, which is how imagine his mind works." Ray said while he looked over at the clock on the wall.

'Rau's heading off and he's leaving Yzak and the others in charge of their force for the time being. My estimates suggest that they'll attack within the next few hours.' Ray thought as he examined the clock.

XXXXX

Ray wasn't wrong, at that very moment; the Gamow had begun making preparations to leave the area, preparing the Blitz for its run to Artemis. Inside the ship, Nicol was having a moment to himself; the green haired young man was looking into his suit's primary stealth function, with the time given. He had a window of approximately 43 minutes before the mirage colloid field dispersed upon use.

As the ship continued on its course the crew observed the situation making sure to check upon the installation to drop the barriers. This action would ensure a suitable entry option for the Blitz. Nicol hummed a tune he remembered from playing his piano, the music in which his passions had lain were all so entrancing.

The young man indulged in his pastime while waiting for a chance to bring swift and devastating justice upon his enemies at first opportunity. Meanwhile Kira faced his own difficulties, one being the protection of the crew and his friend's safety, not to mention his own, his life hung in the balance thanks to circumstance.

Kira had been faced with a difficult situation, being escorted by the station's commander along with his subordinate so they could have him unlock the Strike's OS for them; it seemed like a difficult situation to be put into, but he had no choice. Flay had foolishly disclosed Kira's nature and told them about his heritage, which pretty much ensured that they would be able to do whatever they wanted to him.

"So you want me to remove the locks on the OS?"

"Oh of course, but there's so much more you could do couldn't you?" Garcia said with a smirk.

"Huh?"

"You can decipher the OS of the Strike and make more powerful machines couldn't you? Or maybe you could learn the secrets of that machine." He gestured at the Eventide. "Perhaps tell us what it holds within." The man said with expectant glee.

"What are you talking about?"

"You're a traitor to your people, having sided with the Alliance, and helping out Naturals." Garcia told him to his face.

"But I'm-."

"Word it whatever way you want, it's how they perceive you is it not?" Garcia said gloatingly.

Kira's mind flicked through to the times, he had spent with his old friend, meeting him again, all the words exchanged during their time as friends. This was grating on his mind as he was forced to work on breaking the OS, he then felt something ebb back to him, the feeling of someone reaching out to him, shaking him out of his negative stupor.

Ray words came back to him.  
"No matter what they say, you're still human kid, don't ever forget that, and don't buy into the bullshit some people say about you to make themselves feel better, you're worth more than their words. You have a cause, and you have reason, keep following it, and you'll find peace of mind. If not, then you'll probably end up like me before making peace with your decisions, if that ever happens, I owe you a drink."

He wasn't sure of what Ray's advice meant until he met the commander of this base, while he was forced to unlock the OS of his machine, Garcia casually remarked on Kira's ability to create better machines and the way he was perceived by the other Coordinators. Kira was seen as a traitor, at least in the eyes of Garcia.

The words stung, but Ray's words reminded him that this was just the perception of the base's commander and those who didn't understand his situation, he couldn't be held responsible for being thrown into this situation and attempting to survive it. In any case, he had little choice in dealing with his situation, and keeping his friends alive was important.

As he continued to work, he didn't realise it, but the opportunity was coming for him and those around him to get going, and leave this place behind.

At that very moment, the station's shields had been disabled, and the Blitz had entered into the immediate area of the station, carefully navigating its way forward, seeking out an opening to begin the attack. The first targets had to be close to the port, it couldn't risk missing a big window of opportunity to sneak into the port and attack the Archangel and Strike while they were docked.

In the midst of working, the station was suddenly rocked by a series of explosions, gaining the attention of everyone. Garcia had to go get a situation report while Kira took the opportunity to kick the guard watching him, in the stomach and throw him out of the cockpit; he quickly activated the suit's power systems and chased the scientists and technicians inside of the cockpit, out.

"What the?" Garcia exclaimed as his attention was drawn to the Strike moving.

"We don't have time to be sitting around, the enemy's coming here." Kira yelled over his com.

"Damn kid…" The base commander muttered in annoyance before storming off.

Garcia and his men immediately went back to their shuttle, Garcia doing so to figure out what was going on, and to get out of harm's way of the boy in the suit. No doubt there was a lot more to this mess, but until then, he'd have to settle for getting the situation under control as soon as possible.

The station was put onto full alert as attacks continued throughout the station, the Blitz was coming and it was coming in fast. But they didn't have any choice; Kira was taking the Strike out of the Archangel. Manually opening the hangar controls using the Strike, Kira entered into the ship's launching bay.

He launched from the emergency exit and out into the open, his vision was filled with the interior port brimming with activity, but his attention was drawn to the oncoming black mobile suit. His mind drifted back to the words of Garcia, coordinators thought of him as a traitor, a traitor to his own people.

But Ray's words kicked in. "It's your responsibility…"

Kira knew that he couldn't take back what he had done, not anymore… He pushed the accelerator on the Strike as he rushed forward to meet the Blitz, his mind was in chaos, but his goal was clear. He wanted to keep these people alive, his friends, and these people who he had sheltered within the ship.

XXXXX

The station came to life as the attack began, the Blitz appeared within the boundaries of the station's barrier perimeter and disabled the defences, and each emitter it disabled left a detonation which rocked the station. It devastated the shield emitters and collapsed the barrier in moments, and it didn't take long for it to punch through the surprised defenders who were still awestruck at this sudden and devastating attack they were under.

From within the interior of the station, the lounge was kept relatively quiet, aside from the gentle rocking they began to feel, which was abruptly followed by a large amount of shaking and alarms going off. Ray sipped down the last of his brandy, savouring the taste while the other looked around perplexed at the source of the alarms.

"Right on schedule." Ray said as he set down the cup of brandy onto the table and clapped his hands. "It's getting lively again."

"So the Blitz is attacking?" Murrue said listening to the explosions.

"Pretty much." Ray said as he removed the multi-tool and put it into his hand and looked at the door, picking the lock carefully.

"We better make our move now." Ray said as he pulled out his multi-tool.

"How do we do this?" Mu asked as he came up behind Ray.

Ray replied in a relatively relaxed fashion. "Simple I take right, you take left, and we're out of here before anyone knows better."

Opening the door, he took out the guard on the left side while Ray downed the man on the right before he could raise his weapon, once they had disabled the guards; they were freed from the lounge.  
"So where next?"

"We just go through the way we came, the others on the ship will probably know the drill, and with the potential risk we're all at right now, they'll be retaking the ship." Ray said as he gestured to them to follow.

They continued on their way back to the ship, meanwhile the station rocked repeatedly from attacks launched by the Blitz, impacts were concentrated upon the areas around the station's docking bays. Undoubtedly the mobile suit piloted by Nicol would attempt to break in and find the Archangel as soon as possible.

And if his guess was right, then the Strike should be getting ready to leave the ship at any moment. They passed through one junction after they had taken the lifts, entering the station's hangar bays, they didn't have any issue getting through security seeing as how everyone was in a panic, few people bothered to step in to stop them.

"Come on let's take this one." Ray gestured to the shuttle sitting abandoned.

They piled into the shuttle haphazardly, with Ray leaping into the front, the others following behind, Mu took the controls, and before they knew it, they were exiting out of the hangar and heading towards the Archangel.

XXXXX

As they got into the ship, they were greeted by the crew having retaken their ship and manned their stations, Ray was down in the hangar getting back to his machine, and he was glad to see the work crew had managed to break free and was busy preparing the Eventide.  
"Hey Ray, we were wondering where you had gone." Kojiro said as he greeted him.

"Oh you know the usual, I'm guessing the kid's outside the ship?"

"Pretty much, from what we can tell, it's utter chaos outside."

Ray closed the hatch as he entered his cockpit, securing himself into his seat, he got Alice to guide the Eventide to the launching bay. As he did so, the intercom lit up and allowed him to see Miriallia seated and ready.  
"Warrant Officer, you're back!"

"Yeah I'm back. Anyway, sitrep." He said as the fighter prepared to launch.

"Siterp?' Miri said confused.

"Situation report." He clarified.

"Oh, Kira's currently in the Strike engaged in battle with the Blitz, they're in melee, but it looks like a tough battle, I'm getting reports that the Duel and Buster are currently entering the harbour's interior right now." Miriallia said as the shaking continued to grow.

"Alright, I'm heading out now." Ray said as he got his machine onto the catapult.

"Eventide launching." The machine was once more catapulted into open space.

After a moment making a quick course adjustment, Ray was speeding off through the interior of the docking bay, his fighter having to navigate through the shower of debris from damaged or destroyed craft floating around. He was thrown into the little cluster fuck of a situation, but he was on target, his fighter lanced through the void, rushing around the chaos.

The Strike and the Blitz were engaged in a duel, the Strike managing to keep pace with the blitz with tenacity and ferocity, the melee between the two was a hectic haphazard slugfest. The two weren't exactly optimised for this but Kira had the disadvantage of not having in depth training, but he was a quick study and remembered to keep his defences up.

The Blitz exchanged blows, one after the other, they were unable to one up the other, and with Kira's sword Strike pack, he was capable in the close quarters of the station's dock, giving him some advantage in the sense the Blitz couldn't use its armaments to their full effect due to the sheer amount of crap now clogging the battlefield.

Firing randomly would waste ammunition and energy, and Nicol knew this better than any of his fellow pilots, so he didn't press his luck and held back waiting for the others to come. Meanwhile Ray made his way over to the other side, where the Duel and Buster was utterly wrecking the collective ass of the base's defenders.

Garcia must have been shitting his pants when he realised that his defences were utterly useless in this scenario. Ray couldn't help but laugh at the idiocy of the commanding officer, he was certainly unfit for the position of a military commander if said commander didn't even know how to maintain discipline and professionalism.

They spotted him in a second, it wasn't like he was attempting to hide his approach, and he unleashed a burst of Lancer fire, but made sure it was aimed at the Duel. His shot was on the mark, and struck the Duel's shield, which was raised the moment it spotted him. It forced the Duel back and allowed him a moment to draw its attention.

He didn't need to wait for a reply as the Buster lay down a barrage of blasts against him, littering the area with beam shots, tearing apart sections of the dock, scaffolding, docking clamps, anchors and even ships which had been destroyed during the initial attack or weren't ready were blasted into pieces.

A haze of debris now coalesced over the port, ruined sections of the port cluttered about, and there were pieces of ships and mobile armours drifting aimlessly around. This worked well for Ray, as he knew that this junk field to obscure shots, of course the downside was that it also obscured a path for him as well, as debris would block sections off.

Regardless, the Buster and Duel were hell bent on settling the score, no matter the cost; the two machines tried their utmost to gun him down. Blasting through debris regardless of how much more they caused with it, it didn't help that Ray goaded them, popping in and out from cover to draw them to attacking.

Ray was making an utter mess of this battle, Eventide's movements were restricted, but so were theirs, they could manoeuvre a hell lot better though, the neat thing was that Ray had more than a few tricks up his sleeves. As he made manoeuvres around the bend, he dispatched a pair of decoy dummies filled with gas.

He set them off on timers and made sure to fire off a few dispersal canisters to blindside the two machines, close quarters might not be his strength, but he wouldn't allow them the advantage either. He let the dispersal canisters eject a large amount of black chaff, which would blind sensor feeds, for the most part someone with a special type of sensor would be able to see through something like this, but none of the Gundams possessed such features.

At least none that he knew of, in this timeline, the simplest tricks were the ones which worked surprisingly the best, if only for a time. Yzak and Dearka were uncertain, but they learnt quickly that the chaff could be partially dispersed if someone caused an explosion, which then pushed the particles away from the point of impact.

Of course Ray knew this as well and made a great effort to use the chaff as a covering screen while he harassed the two machines from all position, letting lose one shot after the next. His shots were precise and accurate to the point that he had forced the Duel and Buster into a corner, but the two didn't give up.

The Buster launched an all-out assault with its missile pods, scattering fire across the entire area, dousing Ray in a shower of shrapnel and fire, the Eventide managed to avoid damage. But the attack had scattered debris around the entire port, and it cleared out quite a bit of the chaff he had laid out across the area.

The battle was a close one, and by close, it meant that the number of machines attacking him was as expected; Duel and Buster went up against him for the second time already. The two pilots he was accustomed to fighting by now, the moment they spotted him, the two machines opened up and attempted to down him.

Of course fighting them in close quarters was difficult, thanks to the limited amount of space available, the best he could do in this situation was to dodge. Each attack nearly glancing him, but he was able to dodge and weave through the attacks. Eventide wasn't able to return fight as easily though, the shots made by the two machines kept him at a distance, but he stayed always a step ahead of them.

It was then he received an alert from Alice.  
"Ray, the Archangel has finally broken free from the anchorage, they're attempting to make an exit."

"Time to get going." Ray said as he looked for an opening.

Ray figured that the two might attempt to corner him if he ran, and had dispatched a few traps to keep them preoccupied, micro incendiary plasma canisters, intended to deal with lightly armoured targets or to force back mobile suits. As he swung around from the low following the surface of the station's dock, he fired a set of canisters into position from his missile pods.

As they were secured, he made a hasty withdrawal and let the Duel and Buster close in, Duel looked as though it was going in for a kill, at least until Yzak came within firing range of the canisters. The area was quickly engulfed in balls the size of baseballs, which then ignited, soon engulfing the mobile suit in a sea of what looked like blue flames.

Yzak was surprised by the fires.  
"What the hell?"

"Yzak, pull back, the heat those things are putting out are above the threshold of your suit's armour protection." Dearka warned.

The Duel immediately rolled away, some areas of its armour still burning with trails of bluish fire, the shield was pock marked and damaged to the point that Yzak dumped it.  
"Damn it, what the hell was that?"

"Looks like our mystery machine, got a few tricks up its sleeves." Dearka said with grit.

The two realised that they couldn't pursue the Eventide now, the plasma screen would damage their suit, regardless of the PS armour they had, plasma would damage the suits external armour through sheer thermal exhaust rather than kinetic impact. Yzak swore and he signalled a withdrawal. Meanwhile, the Blitz was knocked back as Strike managed to find an opening, thanks to an unexpected explosion knocking a section of scaffolding around them.

As the Blitz was forced back, the Eventide was able to make its exit, slicing through the explosions, it ripped out across the port, chasing behind the Archangel in a trail of plasma exhaust.  
"Did I miss anything?" Ray asked with a smirk as he appeared from behind.

"Ray, good to see you've made it back."

"Yeah, no worries here, I got the Duel and Buster tied down, we should be in the clear for now."

"Hopefully you're right."

"Come back aboard, we're making our run out of here." Mu informed him.

As Ray came back to the ship, he noticed the Strike, staring forward.  
"Hey Kid, something on your mind?"

"Oh, it's nothing." Kira replied as he turned his machine to the hangar of the ship.

"Bad liar." Ray muttered aloud as he looked to the waiting boarding bay.

'Then again, I guess we all are.' Ray thought to himself as he looked back at Artemis.

For now, Artemis lives, it'll live for quite a while, and he knew that he'd leave a parting gift, one which would help to shape the course of this world, in what direction, he wasn't sure. But none of the stupid childish Saturday cartoon villain nonsense, he wanted to see the potentials for bringing invariable potentials into a complex scenario.

XXXXX

AN: The story has taken a dive here for obvious reasons, I was on vacation, and now I'm back, and I'm sick with a cold. So yeah, this sucks, I'm hopefully going to get back onto track ASAP. As for the chapter, I'm seriously hoping that this works out for the time, being as I've had to play catch up.

In any case, if there are issues with the chapter, voice them so I can clear them up ASAP.


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Lost and Found

XXXXX

It had been a few days since their escape from the Artemis installation escape, with the ship only getting a few amenities from the installation before making its run. Aboard the ship, things had been tense, as they had expected to be chased by Rau's forces, but so far they were in the clear, amidst the chaos of the exploding station, it seemed as though they had lost the pursuing ZAFT force.

As for Artemis itself, it seemed as though the installation was nearly destroyed, but it was hard to say, the explosion caused by the damage caused, seemed to have created an area wide obscurity. In any case, the ship's crew had found time to relax, albeit briefly, during this time, they had been trying to prepare for future encounters, and not to mention familiarise themselves with the ship.

There was also the case of training them, seeing as most had never dealt with any physical education or experience. This idea was originally met with some apprehension, mainly because they were kids, and because they weren't expected to actually go out and fight, aside from Kira, but Ray made a compelling argument.

"They're not kids anymore, seeing as how they've gotten involved with the ship, they're stuck with us, and I'd prefer if they got some measure of training, to keep them on their toes, as well as maintain discipline."

"While I do admit they've been thrown into an unexpected situation, getting them used to the regular drills might be good, besides, we don't have an abundance of personnel available now do we?"

Natarle actually agreed with this sentiment, mostly from a practical point of view, and so the motion was passed to begin training the kids as soon as possible,

The kids gathered in the mess hall after Ray had taken them through the drills, it wasn't particularly fun, as it involved making laps around the ship's axial circuit, which was fun for about a minute before they started to get tired. The legwork was a lot harder than they imagined, in any event, they had been asked to get used to the drills as much as possible.

"I feel like my legs are made of lead."

"Yeah, I know, we all feel like that."

"Except Kira."

Thanks to Kira being a coordinator, his body wasn't nearly as worn down from 5 minutes of continuous jogging along the axial circuit, of course that said, he wasn't used to running as much, so he did get worn down. He was given special attention by Ray in terms of training himself physically and mentally.

Ray had to train Kira in operating for intense battles, one such method was in simulated dogfight, and the other was through repetitive combat drills, this was mostly intended to help in improving his aim, seeing as how much he exhausted from firing so much. He needed to conserve his energy in fights like that or he'd run out fast.

Another aim of the whole training was to get him used to fighting, something which he had some issue with. Kira arrived down in the mess hall his pilot suit haphazardly still attached, but the front wide open thanks to morning drills. He sat down next to Tolle, who greeted him.  
"Hey, Kira, you look like hell, what happened?"

"Training, we decided to go onto intermediate work in close combat, I never imagined how difficult trying to move around in an asteroid field could be." Kira commented as he rolled his shoulders from the stiffness.

"I feel for you, these drills are murder on my body." Kuzzey said while he rolled his arms sorely.

"Hey be glad you aren't going over fire drills, I've got carpel tunnel syndrome from having to read the display monitors and make sure I did a full tracking of hostile silhouettes again and again, Lieutenant Badgiruel grilled me over the mistakes. I had to repeat it until I got it right."

"Hey, what's going on?" Miriallia asked as she came back with Flay and the meals.

Miriallia had grabbed extra food for Kira and Flay had gotten Sai's plate, as they set it down for them to tuck into, Tolle explained.  
"Not much, just going over the training regimen, and how much it was murder."

"Tell me about it, my shoulders are sore from having to check the CIWS systems and from switching from manual to automated fire control, it was a pain trying to meek munitions monitors within acceptable parameters, I never realised how much ammo those guns used up just for defence." She said as she recalled her experience.

"Well I don't think we're quite expecting a lot of time off yet, but I'm sure it'll be addressed later, we just have to endure this for the time being. Besides, I'm sure they've got good reason for training us like this."

"Maintaining discipline and getting us familiar with how things work on the ship, man this is going to be tiring."

"Well we did end up volunteering, no point in crying over it now."

"Hey Flay, what's the matter?" He asked the girl who continued to move away from him.

The girl shied away embarrassed before stating. "Umm, I haven't showered properly in a few days now."

The others seemed to understand this very easily, as almost all of them hadn't had a good shower in days now, and it was starting to show, with Kuzzey's greasy hair and Tolle's sweaty smelling body odour. The girls didn't want to talk about it as much, but the others did.

"Right, we've got a water shortage." Tolle said as he looked over his food with the meagre cup of water.

"We're the only ones which got somewhat better rations, mainly because we got priority, immediate risks of a ZAFT attack pending; it's all up in the air on whether or not this is a good idea." Sai said to the others.

"Hopefully the Captain and the others find a solution." Miriallia said with a hopeful comment.

"If not, the smell is going to be least of our problems." Tolle added as they continued to eat their breakfast.

Kira noted the tone by which Tolle spoke about, their situation was growing dire, and sooner or later it had to be addressed, but between training and getting himself familiar with his machine, his mind continued to drift into the issue of whether or not the situation he and his friends were in, was particularly good.

There was just so much going on these days, he couldn't imagine what else could complicate things further.

XXXXX

At that very moment the ship's senior officers were gathered, discussing the situation at length, they were going over the charts and the recorded layout of the region. So far they had come to a very disparaging set of conclusions; they didn't have enough water to reach either destination for certain.

"So what are our options?" Murrue inquired as she looked to the gathered officers.

"Either head to Luna HQ or going to Earth, it's all problematic, mainly because we barely have enough water to reach Luna HQ with what we have." Mu explained as he looked over the rationing and the expected flight plan.

"What about our resupply that Ray secured us?" Murrue asked.

"No good, Garcia worked in the opposite way, he loaded munitions and utilities first, not water, and we were at the station for about the span of 6 hours, so only a portion of our supplies got on board." Mu reported.

This was grim news; they lost their only other chance for a resupply and lost it, which meant they were almost back to where they had started. But they couldn't just magically change the fact that they needed to make the distance and fast, but that wasn't possible, they'd be at serious risk should they encounter any danger while running low on water trying to reach HQ.

"So what do we do?"

"I do have a suggestion." Ray said promptly.

"Another suggestion?"

"Hey since when are my suggestions bad?" Ray said defensively.

"It's not that your suggestions are bad, but they're reckless."

"But they have proven useful getting us going."

"You gave classified information for a mobile suit project even we didn't know existed, and an natural OS to the Eurasian Federation."

"And accurately predicted an attack by ZAFT and think three steps ahead by scrambling all the data given to the Eurasian Federation, and allowed us a safe exit before ZAFT could chase after the ship. But hey, we're still alive."

"That's enough, look, I need options and fast, even as reckless as they might be." Murrue said clearly not wanting to go through another argument over Ray's conduct.

Ray continued as he explained his plan. "Thank you captain, to put things bluntly, we can't risk a run to Luna HQ, not in our condition, and with the looming threat of ZAFT's picket fleet's no doubt sweeping the area between the moon and potential trajectories, we can only go one other way."

"The debris belt?" She said perplexed.

"A belt of garbage and refuse left behind after the years of exploration of space, junk left over from numerous wars and failed colonisation efforts, all caught in the gravity belt around Earth."

"It's a flight hazard, but it's also a repository of sorts."

"Huh?"

"It's filled with refuse, including ship wrecks right?" Ray asked them clearly building to something obvious.

"You aren't suggesting, we go into the debris belt and look for water?" Natarle said uncertain of such a course of action.

"It's not as if we've got much option, the water reclamation system won't hold out for another 3 or 4 days, and rationing further will hit hard. So our best choice is to get whatever water we can find, and continue going until we reach a viable approach vector for landing on Earth." Ray stated his examination of their situation.

Mu nodded in agreement.  
"It's a risky proposition, but it sounds possible, though it'll be tricky trying to locate the appropriate sort of wreckage which might carry enough water for use, it'll definitely give us the supplies necessary to continue on."

"Seeing as we don't have much choice, we'll proceed through the debris belt, hopefully something of use can be found." Murrue concluded.

"Thank you captain, I'll prepare salvage teams for search and recovery." Ray said as he gestured to Mu.

The two officers departed in short order, getting the crew prepared for salvage operations, as unappealing as a task it might seem, it certainly would prove important if they wanted to survive long enough to get to safety.

XXXXX

As Ray had exited the bridge, he was going over the work crew logs; he knew that they'd been an assortment of personnel to get this done quickly, he conferred with Mu on who they should take for salvage operations. They were quick to get a few of the bridge crew to help out, along with some of the kids, who they knew had skills in operating small space craft.

As they completed preliminary work crew rosters, Ray and Mu headed off to their quarters to get readied for their excursion into the debris field. This was also because they had also planned to get some practical training done with Kira, the kid needed it for whatever it was worth. They didn't have many opportunities to leave the ship, so this was good for that as well.

As for the water shortage issue, it was honestly a bit surprising; for all intents and purposes, Ray would have thought that a ship like the Archangel would have more water efficient systems to provide the crew with the means to survive. It seemed odd that it was so difficult for them to think ahead, and to be perfectly honest, the world where he came from had thought ahead.

Ray had managed to keep himself clean through a miraculous piece of medicine, a special towel soaked in a substance which could be applied and then wiped off, which would kill most germs and clean the body. The towel was reusable, but required a special treatment in a washer and dryer before being able to be reused.

As for brushing his teeth, he had a special disposable dental cleaner that could achieve the same effect as cleaning with a toothbrush. He was able to keep himself clean with little to no water, which was probably expected considering that he and other military personnel in the field didn't have the luxury of getting back to base to wash down, and water was a very valuable commodity, wasting it was a bad idea.

Why no such development came into this universe was honestly a rather confusing aspect, considering that this was the future. He did ask the crew as to why nothing like that had been developed but he got stonewalled with 'commercial costs to military', apparently it was more expensive for military personnel to afford the cleaning towels, probably a resource constraint or someone figured to act like an ass and make it expensive.

They were now getting closer to the no stopping point and Ray knew that they were discussing their next approach, the Earth. First he knew that they'd encounter the ZAFT patrol unit in the debris belt, leaving this up to Kira would be the most appropriate course of action, even if the kid was unwilling to kill so readily, he knew that Kira would need to learn a lot in the coming days.

Ray go changed, and informed Alice of his plans for the day, the AI promptly inquiring whether or not he'd expect a great deal of trouble, he gave her no assurances, and asked to keep on the lookout for potential threats. Besides that, he prepared for the coming events, he had no allusions as to what would happen once they entered the debris field, and with the impending encounter with Rau and the other Gundams again.

His mind drifted to the situations he would soon encounter with Flay's father, and he was weighing in his options to save the poor bastard or let him burn. Saving him would have unimaginable consequences, and might drastically affect change. But there might be some redeeming elements, such as Flay not going all murderous crazy.

This of course was offset by the fact that her father was a member or had connections to Blue Cosmos, which was bad for obvious reasons, and the potential fallout of what would occur if the foreign minister survived. He wasn't the one to shy away from encouraging the persecution of coordinators, but he was also not someone who'd be so eager for a fight.

His perception could change, but this was also an issue which couldn't be addressed right away, he didn't know the man well enough, this was a factor he was going to have to deal with differently. In the meantime, he knew he had to partake in dealing with one issue after the next, one such trouble being the water shortage, which would be resolved soon.

XXXXX

Sometime later after Ray was fully suited up, he went down to meet with the kids, who should have been preparing in the locker rooms, he was greeted by the gang, most were dressed, aside from Sai and Miriallia who would be required to stay on the ship to help operations, the others were all fully suited up.

"Hey kids, I assume you've been given the work detail?" Ray said cheerfully as he greeted them in the hallway.

"We got word that we're being sent out as part of the search and recovery salvage operation, what's going on?" Tolle asked.

"We need to find water and soon, we're going to be passing through the Earth's debris belt, and the captain has agreed to send recovery units out to look for water, including you." Mu informed the group.

"Us?" Kuzzey said perplexed, clearly he didn't seem to understand the necessity of helping out.

"Kira's going to be patrolling along with me and Mu; meanwhile you're searching for fresh water, though we've also got a scheduled training session, not a long one, but one which I'm sure you'll benefit from." Ray explained to the young man.

"This'll be a learning experience kid, while we're out there I'll be taking you through live practice drills, so remember to prepare." Mu told him.

"Ah, yes sir." Kira replied hastily.

This was going to be a long day for the kids, they weren't going to get a break anytime soon, but at least they got to get outside the ship for once, and do something which wasn't on the bridge. Of course this didn't mean they liked the idea of going scavenging through a debris field of garbage that people had left behind along with countless graves.

But beggars can't be choosers, and in this case, they really couldn't, with the potential for water lingering so close, they had to allocate as many able bodied people they could for finding a suitable source of water they could use for the ship. They couldn't fault this method of searching and they were running out of time.

So in the end, they had to make do, meanwhile Ray took Kira down to the hangar with Mu getting suited up for the sortie, Ray explained what he expected in the drills and wanted Kira to have confidence in his abilities. They had a lot to deal with before the day was over, and there was still a fair distance before they found any modicum of safety.

As Ray and KIra got into their units, Ray did one last check up on Alice.  
"Have you completed the unit I asked for?" He said to the AI.

"Nearly complete, the compact module will be fully functional within the next 3 hours." The AI informed him.

"Good, then we're on schedule." Ray commented as he sealed his helmet.

XXXXX

Looking for a sufficient amount of clean water wasn't easy, especially in space, the debris belt was littered with ships from all eras, space projects long over or failed colonisation efforts, but at times it could be difficult to find water viable for use in sustaining a crew of people. For the Archangel, it had limited supplies in terms of water, and had to make do looking for whatever it could.

Their expectations weren't what they were hoping for, but it seemed as though they got lucky, if you could say that. The destroyed continent of Junius Seven left a lot of water floating about which they could dig out.

"Look we aren't happy with this decision; we're not all jumping for joy at the thought of digging out the frozen water from the continent, and the place is a graveyard for thousands of people. But we're alive, and if we want to keep living we have to do this."

The others weren't quite comfortable with the idea, but they supported the action, they knew that Mu and Ray were right, the situation was bad enough, and they couldn't ignore the fact that principle doesn't work in situations of survival. They were alive, and if they wanted to keep alive, they would have to make certain exceptions with their consciousness.

This wasn't malice or disregard for the dead, but if they wanted to live to see another day, it was going to be their only other choice. It was a necessary aspect of survival for them in the long run, and speaking of survival, the scheduled training regimen the Warrant Officer and Lieutenant had given to Kira was in process.

In the debris field further away from the search parties, the Strike carefully navigated its way through the debris, making quick and short adjustments to its movements while manoeuvring around the debris. The suit was doing its utmost to minimise movement and avoid detection while keeping itself concealed from potential fire.

Of course it didn't help that Kira was playing this against Ray who could predict movements somewhat, as a beam shot suddenly struck the debris he was hiding behind, the impact being powerful enough to scorch the debris but also send it rocking away into Kira. The young man immediately manoeuvred out of the way before quickly locating another hiding spot.

Kira peered around for the corner and attempted to locate the source of the shot, his vision was obscured by particulate matter which drifted around the area. His suit's sensors couldn't penetrate the mass of particles, but he could tell that Ray was certainly hiding in this place, as he pushed the Strike off with a gentle nudge; he throttled the accelerator and made his move through the field, intent to locate cover and move from position to position.

This was to cover his approach around the debris field, and allow him to sneak around Ray's Eventide, which wouldn't be able to manoeuvre easily through this field. His efforts were rewarded with a solid contact moving through the field, from a high axis adjacent to his position. Kira pulled the Strike from the cover and then locked his rifle onto the target before letting loose.

His shots were on the mark, but his beam impact caused the target to explode violently, despite the fact that it was on a very low intensity setting for training. The area was suddenly illuminated by the flash and the particles around the Strike were wiped clear. Kira instinctively attempted to push away from the blast, knowing it was likely a decoy.

But his move came too late, and he backed himself into a corner, quite literally seeing as the debris field was constantly moving, his escape was cut off, it was then he was suddenly struck by a beam impact. The simulated battle ended with another victory for Ray, Kira had been getting practice from these war games, but they covered mostly the general idea of tactics, also helped to try and sharpen Kira's situational awareness.

"Dead again, but this time, you at least thought ahead more steps than before." Ray critiqued on Kira's performance. "You might want to think of potential escape routes or rethink your approach to an attack; you might never know when someone might pull a fast one on you." Ray said as he flew out from his anchored position overlooking the area.

"Is that a wrap?" Mu asked as he showed himself.

"Yeah it's a wrap, we don't have more time to spare right now, we've got escort duties to undertake." Ray commented as he signalled Kira to follow.

The trio of pilots regrouped within the search area, a wide area which was rich with large amounts of debris, mostly from ships, either destroyed in battle of ruins from discarded colonies. The bad news was that most of the materials available were utterly useless, none held sufficient amounts of water, either due to the ship being breached and everything getting spaced, or there just wasn't enough.

Their search turned up something of interest though; 'interest' may have been putting it mildly, more like shocking, for the crew and the ship. As for Ray, he remained in stoic silence as he looked upon the scene lain before him,

"It can't be, is that?" Murrue said whilst looking through the transmitted image.

"Junius seven, what the hell is it doing here?" Dalida said in shock.

"Looks like it drifted here, probably thanks to the explosion which destroyed it, it got knocked into the Earth's gravity well and pulled into orbit." Ray said while he examined the continent.

"Damn." Mu said while he looked at his monitor.

The colony continent drifted amidst this field of refuse, like a lone island in the middle of nowhere, debris from the destroyed colony as well as the floating garbage made it seem like the colony was a sort of snow globe, just with a hellishly twisted amount of crap jumbling about aimlessly. This was certainly a sight which Ray would remember for years to come.

As they settled upon the frozen continent sized crypt, teams were dispatched to begin looking for soluble sources of water which they could use. Of course there was also some effort to search the area, much to their horror, the search crews ended up going into whole gravesites of bodies, many civilians who managed to flee only to suffocate or die from the cold vacuum inside the colony.

Miriallia had to return back to the ship, after they had a run in with a dead mother and child, frozen in the interior of the colony. Meanwhile Kira and the other remaining members continued to scour the sections of the colony for water sources. Ray on the other hand had already gone over the colony himself.

He had spent enough time in the presence of death to already appreciate the sheer scale of loss on his own; he opted to remain in Eventide patrolling the area for the time being and wait for the others to finish their search. Alice asked him a rather deep hitting question.  
"Does death affect you?"

Ray was actually surprised that the AI would be able to ask him such a question, his response was one he wasn't sure of, seeing as how long he had served in the Australian MAF corps, Sentinel Special Operations force.  
"There's a lot that I've grown indifferent to, death is just one of those things, I've seen more than my fair share than I'd care to admit."

"Does that mean you feel your life amidst all this death and carnage has it taken something away from you?"

"Would it be alright if I said no?" He said promptly as he looked over the frozen fields of the colony.

Alice was an odd one, she wasn't like an AI most would associate with, being based upon the original ALICE from the EX-S Gundam and an amalgamation of the AI he had used as a simple support OS was something he wasn't sure about. Alice was clearly aware of Ray's existence, she didn't need as much time to develop, she was calm and composed, but the nature of her program had clearly changed.

This was going to be something he'd need to address later.

XXXXX

After they spent most of the afternoon scouring the area for water, Kira and Ray cycled their patrols, Kira taking the opportunity to overwatch the area around the destroyed continent. His mind was drifting between the search operation and his own personal issues, one being his perspective on the entire war.

The concept of peace lasting was a remote thing, there had always been wars, and most of them were brutal, even without mobile suits, it was a nightmare to imagine how much bloodier this would have ultimately been. For Kira, he was someone standing at a crossroads of sorts, his effect on the grand scheme of things; he was one person at the wrong place, but at the right time.

His actions had now effected not only himself, but everyone around him, and the potential for more lingered within reach, either this was going to lead to some potentially good outcomes, or very horrible ones. He sighed as he waited, he was placed in a very difficult position, and he knew it, his responsibility in the midst of all of this was his own, despite circumstances.

As he scanned a sector around the debris field, he noticed something moving, at first he thought it was nothing, but then his sensors alerted him to a distinct energy signature, albeit skewered thanks to the debris filed. He moved the Strike in a more concealed position, keeping his eyes open for whatever was moving.

He didn't need to wait particularly long, as a mobile suit appeared, more specifically a GINN recon type unit with enhanced sensory package. Kira immediately drew his beam rifle out and got the targeting system ready, zeroing in on the machine, he was lucky that the unit didn't seem to notice him.

As he watched the suit, he realised that it was looking for something, not the Archangel that was for sure, but something of particular interest, it was scanning a destroyed ship, clearly searching for survivors. After a few minutes of examining the wreck, the suit seemed to lose interest; clearly whatever it was looking for it wasn't there.

Kira had involuntarily held his breath whilst waiting for the suit to leave, as it seemed to do so, he breathed a sigh of relief. Of course he did this at the worst time, as he forgot to signal the rest of the work crews what was going on, and the Mistral work loader which had stores of ice on its back appeared.

The work craft immediately drew the attention of the suit, which turned around and opened up with its elongated rifle. In the fire, the craft was struck by a glancing impact, and he could hear Dalida and Kuzzey screaming out in panic as they were attacked, Kira reacted immediately, zeroing in. In a moment, he fired, an emerald beam spitting out and lancing the suit on the left side and blowing off an arm.

He realised that he forgot to adjust for drift and missed the centre mass, the suit realising the immediate threat attempted to aim at him. Kira corrected his aim, he pulled the trigger as the suit attempted to fire at him, his second shot managed to land an impact and it blew clean through the midsection of the machine, engulfing the cockpit as well.

The suit didn't explode all the way, but the ignition of the air inside and other parts caused it to burst into halves, the machine now dead, began to drift aimlessly, joining the debris field. For a moment Kira sat there, his mind racing, adrenaline pumping, he felt so focused though, his mind was clear.

"Kira, thanks you saved us." He heard Kuzzy said with relief.

"Uh? Oh, yeah…" Kira replied a little uneasily.

"Is that all of them?" Dalida asked as he looked around.

"I think so, you better get going." Kira told them hastily.

"Alright, we'll report back."

Kira was uncertain as to feeling about killing people like this, but Ray and Mu had told him before, surviving isn't easy, regardless of how they looked at it, but if he wanted his friends and himself to survive, he had to pull the trigger, even if it meant taking a person's life away. It wasn't like a game, as he was fighting for his life, but it was necessary.

He had saved his friends who were trying to survive like he was, but it didn't sit well with him, because he knew that he was killing people. This was something he was still having difficulty coming to terms with, but as Ray had told him before, it wasn't like he wanted to go around killing people, but it's something that he had to accept or he'd die.

As the destroyed mobile suit drifted off into space, Kira was left there looking at his handiwork, his action felt wrong, but he had begun to accept it, not like something he was feeling distraught about, his mind going over his action. He then noticed something on his visual sensor, a faint glowing of an emergency signal. His attention was drawn to the source of the signal, a small escape pod, sitting in the middle of the debris field.

"What is that?" Kira noticed the blinking lights of an emergency escape pod.

In one swift motion, he managed to get the Strike over to it and retrieve the escape pod; whoever was inside must have been from the PLANTs, considering the design. His mind was still racing from before, but now his attention was drawn to the escape pod, with life potentially aboard, he determined to take it back.

XXXXX

Ray knew what had happened long before everyone else did, Eventide's sensors were good enough to detect movement from extended distances even with particle jamming thanks to Alice tweaking the suit's particle dispersion system, he could use it to track things within a certain radius, but it was better than being blind.

As Kira returned to the ship, he knew what the kid was carrying, an escape pod, Ray landed on the ship as Kira did, making their way over to the docking berth for his Eventide. He exited to see the crew preparing to open up the escape pod; no doubt Murrue was getting a headache from Kira's habit of picking up discarded items.

Ray was greeted by Mu who stood patiently besides the captain.  
"Yo, what's going on?"

"Oh, hey, kid's gone and brought us another surprise." Mu said with a tone of sarcasm.

"So I see." Ray replied as he and the rest of the crew watched intently.

Murrue signalled to the technician to open up the pod, at that moment the doors slid open and the guards tensed up waiting for something to happen, what they got wasn't what they had expected. A round red ball drifted out, its eyes flashed and its sides opened up like flaps, it chirruped.  
"Haro, hello, how are you?"

"Huh?" The blonde haired lieutenant uttered in surprise.

It was then a girl came out from within the pod, her long pink hair flowing behind her in a non-existent breeze, she was adorned in a large white dress gown with purple trimming.  
"Ah! Could someone help me?" She asked as she drifted away.

Ray was about to step in when Kira did, the young man closer to the girl pulled her back to the deck.  
"Oh thank you." The girl replied grateful for the assistance.

"Ah no problem." Kira replied.

It was at that moment the girl then examined the crew and then said in a surprised voice.  
"Oh my, this isn't a ZAFT vessel is it?"

That statement pretty much confirmed the girl's situation and the crew reacted in mixed fashions, Mu simply face palming at the sheer luck that they had picked up a civilian from the PLANTs. Murrue looked genuinely exhausted by this sudden inclusion of another complication, and everyone looked around uncertain of what to do.

XXXXX

It wasn't long before they got their new guest squared away along with her robot companion, the captain and the senior officers had the girl taken to a private quarter down in the ship, there they were busy trying to get information from the girl. Not a particularly difficult thing to do, seeing as this was a young girl and not some hardened ZAFT vet.

Ray stood in the room, patiently waiting on the bed with an eager eye, listening in as things played out. He was the first to confirm that she was indeed Sigel Clyne's daughter, and much to the dismay of Murrue, she was a walking bargaining chip, one which would prove to be quite a headache for them, dragging her all the way into Alliance hands.

Lacus Clyne, the supposed to be like the Lin Minmay figure of the Gundam SEED universe, and one who faced a lot of flak in Destiny for a lot of different reasons, then again the original run and the anniversary really didn't do so well in trying to fix a lot of characterisation issues. In the revamp series thankfully someone addressed this, but whether or not it'd make a feature was still to be seen.

This was one of the few characters he was rather impartial to, but he did admit she had a very good singing voice, thanks to her voice actor being an actual singer. In any case, she seemed naively aware of the danger she was in, an unfortunate side effect of living within the colonies sheltered by her father who was a political figure.

She would no doubt break from this shell as she learnt more about the circumstances within the PLANTs and the effect the war was having on the social developments. But for now, she was vaguely aware of the serious ongoing issues within the political spectrum of the PLANTs, or what was going to happen soon.

As the senior officers reconvened their meeting elsewhere in Murrue's quarters, they sat down and discussed their current situation.

"So what do we do?"

"I guess we'll have to take her along with us, as much as I'd rather not drag a young girl into this mess."

"That young girl is Sigel Clyne's daughter might I remind you, and she's not some nobody."

"She's a figure of peace and prosperity within the PLANTs, and she's very influential, she just doesn't know it as much. As for her status, she is by definition a non-com Lieutenant, and I'd rather we remember that, the rules of war might not exist, but we abide by the same principles. I'd rather not drag this girl into a mess she doesn't deserve to be dragged into."

"What makes you think-."

"I've seen my fair share of exchanges; I've made some tough calls, don't test me on this one, and don't drag this girl into this." He said darkly.

The look in his eyes were fierce, so much so that Natarle looked at a very different person, not Ray, but someone else, standing before her, the expression he held seemed to cause her great discomfort. Murrue and La Flaga were both concerned when they saw how Ray reacted, but he changed his expression back to his passive one.

"To put this into an easier context, her status as a citizen of an opposing faction doesn't apply here, her status by definition is civilian, regardless of origin, so we act accordingly. If something were to happen, she'd be treated as a civilian all the same, that is my stance on this matter. I'd rather not drag someone into a cluster fuck of interplanetary politics."

"Did something happen to you Ray?" Mu asked intently.

Ray replied a little dismissive at first. "I've had my fair share of utter fuck ups Mu, some worse than others, but dragging kids into the spotlight of politics, especially between warring nations isn't something I'd like to repeat. I've had my taste of that shit, and I'm done with it."

This new piece of information certainly surprised Mu, he didn't know of many organisations which participated in the use of civilians for political leverage or for negotiations, whatever Ray experienced, it must have been quite hushed. But regardless, this certainly told him that Ray had more than his fair share of bad memories, and experiences.

XXXXX

The seasoned veteran had a lot on his mind, flushed with the memories of his past, and the current affairs he was participating in; he couldn't help but feel a little shaken from his own reaction with the Lieutenant.

As Ray had remembered his bitter days back in his own world dealing with political parties and the trade of human lives; none of it was particularly pleasant. His experience was the botched hostage crisis situation which he ended up getting involved in, the mess that had left was bad enough for him, and he just got sick of it.

He knew that Lacus was valuable to the Earth Alliance, no doubt on that, but he hated the idea of dragging the poor girl into the same mess he saw another young girl get dragged into. Thankfully he knew that Kira's principles would override his sense of duty and he'd go and save this poor girl from this mess.

Now the trouble he had to deal with everything before that happened, and he knew that there was quite a lot on the way. He also had plans to sow the seeds of utter hell with Rau's plan, but first he needed to get the right tools.  
"Alice, have you compiled the platform for use?"

"I've begun finishing the last details; do you require the module asynchronous?"

"Preferably, this is going to be my ace in the hole after all." Ray said with the utmost confidence.

XXXXX

Kira and Lacus had shared a meal together after they had encountered one another in the mess hall, ultimately this was spoiled by the impetuous Flay would ended up spewing on a bigoted rant on Lacus and her apparent appreciation for Kira despite having said resentment for coordinators. This little incident had caused the young man to suddenly rethink his position amidst all of this.

The two shared their feelings on the war and asked each other about personal matters, with Kira going over the issues of his old friend Athrun. The two of them continued to discuss their feelings about the people they knew, and as they did, Kira seemed to embrace a moment of peace, for whatever it granted him.

"Is there something wrong?" Lacus inquired her voice a gentle breeze in the solemn silence.

Kira's face was impassive, he was dealing with a lot of emotions, all of this had caught up to him, the war, his friends, and those people who he had killed, and everything seemed to be coming to an unexpected head. And with that he felt like crying, which by any other definition this was normal, but he knew he couldn't be crying all the time, there was still a long road ahead.

Amidst the exchange, Ray had listened in only briefly, mostly out of respect for the young man and also because he knew where this conversation led. Besides at this point, he knew that there were greater issues which he had to attend to, some of which he knew couldn't be ignored if his plans to alter this timeline was to proceed.

But as he left, he heard the distinct singing from the girl. The 'Fields of Hope', a song which he recalled from his childhood, a haunting melody which he heard in remixes and covers, when it was done right, it was beautiful, and at times truly haunting, as how it spoke of peace and harmony amidst a time of war and death.

Truly it was poetic.

XXXXX

Later that evening, Ray had prepared his ace in the hole for the SEED universe, the innocuous item which could topple Rau's plans for good and probably reshape the outcome of SEED, as to where it goes from there, it would be determined as to how much would be changed by his actions. Ray entered into Lacus' room, minding the door; he was greeted by the pink haired girl on her own, he greeted the girl.

"Mind if I come on Ms Clyne?" He asked gentlemen like as he stood in the doorway.

"It is nice of you to make a sudden appearance Ray."

"Sorry about that, I've got something I'm sure you'd like to see." He said producing a small white and blue Haro.

"Hana, say hello."

"Hello, I'm Hana!" The white and blue Haro chirruped.

"Oh my, this is rather unexpected, who is this?"

"Hana, she's a Haro I constructed on my own." Ray explained in a cheerful fashion.

"Do you know how to create Haros as well?"

"Yes, I've seen the originals, this is a custom built one I made from scratch, I figured she'd be a great addition for you."

"Thank you very much; this is such a lovely Haro." She said as she held the little ball robot.

Hana's ears popped up and the Haro chimed.  
"Hana sees you!"

"I see you to." She replied to the robot's remark.

"Hana's a specially built model, I figured she'd be of great use, but please don't tell anyone I made this for you, if anyone asks, you got this from a dedicated fan. I'd like to keep my existence to a minimal, for professional and personal reasons." He told the young woman.

Lacus let Hana roll to the floor, so she could play with Mr Red.

"Haro?"

"Hello, how are you?"

"I'm Hana, how are you?"

"I'm Haro, how are you?"

The two little robots chased each other around the room.

"These two are getting along nicely."

"Is this all you wished to give me?"

"Well that and I wanted to ask you about a certain topic." Ray said to the girl.

"What might that be?" She asked clearly intrigued.

"The potential future for a ceasefire between the PLANTs and the Earth Alliance, I know there's a lot going on, but if you could speak to your father, I'd like for you to convey my personal gratitude to his efforts in trying to reach a resolution to ending the war. And I'd like for you to send him a warning…"

The girl looked up at him rather confused; she wasn't sure what sort of warning he could give her.  
"There are many unforeseen consequences to our actions, our interactions are relative, but we affect one another, even in the smallest ways, keep your eyes and ears open." He paused before adding. "Nothing is at it seems."

The words certainly got the girl wondering what he was talking about, she didn't have a serious grasp of the politics surrounding the PLANTs Supreme Council, but the words which Ray convened were certainly very serious.  
"Is there a particular message which you intended to convey?"

"It's just as I said, I cannot reveal anything else right now. In any event, I do wish for his safety as well as yours." He said with some effort to reassure her.

Lacus wasn't sure about how she felt about his warning, in any regard, the warning was meant to be cryptic for the purpose of avoiding a serious continuity issue, that and also avoid dragging Sigel Clyne into an increasingly dangerous game of politics. The man didn't know how far Patrick Zala's influence spread, and he didn't know of the nascent infiltrators in his party who'd been selling information out to Zala's allies.

This was actually something that SEED failed to touch on was real world politics, at least in anime, the Light Novels on the other hand went into some depth of the inner working of the Supreme Council, those who supposed the Zala and Clyne families. Though there were others, and Durandal's faction which had been playing the neutral card while Zala and Clyne butted heads repeatedly.

It could be said that Durandal's rise could be associated with him playing Zala against Clyne's party, something that wasn't well known at the time, as Durandal had various agents working behind the scene for him. One being a well-respected member of a company associated in the development of technologies, including the N-Jammer Canceller technology.

But onto the matter at hand, Lacus was widely unaware of the ongoing issues within the PLANTs, and this would probably put them on alert, if not give Ray a little bit of a foot in the proverbial doorway. He could then use this to leverage support from Clyne's faction later, assuming the Chairman survived, if not, then Lacus would be able to help out in whatever way she could with the gift Ray had provided.

The gift being the Haro, which contained a lot of detailed information, some of which revealed a little about the future of events to the young woman, of course he had it hard coded, meant to only reveal this information to Lacus when she needed to know, special efforts were made to avoid revealing too much detail or data.

To make absolutely certain that the data wasn't revealed; he had the information encoded into crystalline layers, hidden within the eye sensors of the Haro so that it would be overlooked by anyone who attempted to access it without authorisation. He made a few additional alterations into the Haro so that it could provide Lacus with all the information she needed in the coming months.

He also prepared a contingency for future events, but for now, he settled on making sure that Hana would give him a much needed lifeline to Lacus. From her, he could give her advanced warnings about potential attacks of schemes taking place, and give her hints on where to look regarding information ascertaining to Rau La Creuset.

All in all, this would help dismantle the blonde haired psychopath's dream of human genocide. He just hoped that nothing went horribly wrong in the midst of all of this, or he would be faced with an ever increasing number of shits to deal with. The man drifted from the room, letting Lacus play with her new companion, unaware of the sheer secrets that it could reveal.

"Alice, does the connection system with Hana work?"

"It's operational."

"Good, we have another piece in place." He said as he headed to his billet.

XXXXX

Later that evening, once the ship had finished the salvage run, they were heading back out of the debris field. The crew had time to indulge a little more into their water rations, now that they could afford to, Ray being on board with getting Kira back to training on drills with the others, and getting prepared for the next inevitable clash with ZAFT.

The bridge crew was changing shifts, when they suddenly received a buzz. Romero who was manning the communications stations called in.  
"Captain, we're receiving a long range transmission, Alliance frequency."

"Can you put it through?"

"I'll try."

"Archangel, this is the 8th Fleet, patrol group sierra under the command of -, if you're receiving this message, please respond in priority decryption Theta."

"Respond on priority decryption Theta."

"Aye ma'am." The operator replied promptly.

"This is Earth Alliance Vessel 'Law', Archangel are you receiving us?"

"Yes, this is the Archangel, we're receiving you loud and clear." Murrue said with gratitude.

"Our scouts reported potential activity in the region, and we dispatched search ships, it's good to hear you Archangel."

"It's been a lengthy trip, but we're here."

"Good, we have to cut this short, we're transmitting you a set of coordinates, we'll rendezvous there within the next day." The captain of the Law said.

Amidst this, they also received word of the fleet preparing to circle around orbit, much relief spraed throughout the ship, with everyone eager to finally get to safety.

XXXXX

However, this seeming gift of relief was only the calm before the storm, the real storm…

Back in the PLANTs, at that very moment another matter was being brought to attention, inside the interior of the PLANT's armoury station, Rau La Creuset was being briefed upon a recent development, one which was to certainly give him a much needed edge.

"May I present to you the ZGMF-YX605 Altair, Experimental Wire Guided Modular Weapon System, the first and only prototype, developed from the wrecks of the Alliance's Mobile Armour, Moebius Zeros." The engineer announced proudly to Rau.

The white suit stood out tall, its frame looked almost exactly the same, albeit, the massive pack which was now situated behind it, two large protruding pylons now attached, added venrir boosters and a new shield. Rau remarked content.  
"It's perfect."

XXXXX

 **(IMPORTANT HEADS UP)**

AN: And that's a wrap for now, I'm sorry, but I've been down with a cold and it's hard to think about proper interactions, this entire chapter was originally going to be built around more than this, but I'd have to double the entire length to fit in all the additional characters, not to mention the character build up for the others.

Flay was going to have a prominent role in this with Lacus, and Kira was supposed to have a sort of personal moment between him and Lacus. But I couldn't get around to doing it all.I'm going to be bogged down for a while, but I'll see what I can do about posting the next chapter, which is going to have a lot of action, you'll see how ugly it all gets.


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Trailblazer… (Part 1)

XXXXX

Elsewhere in the Sol System, between Luna and Earth, the Versailles had begun the search for the missing Lacus Clyne, with the goal of finding the young woman as soon as possible. But to do so required a lot more than one ship, and so the Versailles under the command of Rau La Creuset had been given assistance from ships which could be spared for the operation.

Two warships had joined up, Hauser and Raeford, along with a faster recon craft known as the Delano had been sent to support the Versailles in its operation. Together they were expected to scour the charted path through to the orbital debris belt of the Earth, whether or not this would yield results was arguable, but it was necessary.

As the battle group of warships headed to Earth's outer orbital area, the officers of each respective ship had gone to meet with Creuset who had been given command over the operation. They were meeting in the Versailles's CIC to determine the best course of action and where they intended to search.

The first of the arrivals in the CIC was Lieutenant Commander, who entered the bridge first in an orderly fashion before the captain of the Raeford appeared. Creuset met the captain of the Raeford with a salute and a handshake.  
"Captain Biden, it's been a while since our last encounter has it not?"

"Yes it has." The man said promptly grasping Creuset's hand and giving a firm shake.

"I see that you're doing well, Creuset." Another officer said.

Rau recognised the man immediately, seeing as they were serving together a year ago.  
"Lieutenant Commander Sato, it's a pleasure to meet again face to face." Creuset said with a hand outstretched.

"Likewise Commander." Sato replied curtly.

Rau met Sato years ago during his early deployment, Sato was a man with a distinct scar upon his face which he had attained from the catastrophic Junius Seven incident, he was a survivor of the nuclear attack and he deeply harboured a hatred for Naturals, he was calm and composed at least on the outside, but he was spiteful within.

As they finished up introductions the captain of the Hauser appeared, a tall broad shouldered officer with chestnut hair and a short but bushy beard. The captain was followed in by a younger looking officer, a woman with blonde crew cut, she had fiery emerald eyes. Rau recognised these two, though he didn't know much about them besides the fact that they were also veterans of the early invasion of Earth.

"Captain Nader and Commander Leif." Biden saluted at their arrival.

The two officers from the Hauser returned the salute before stopping on the opposite side of the computer display in the CIC. Nader began first.  
"Gentlemen, it is an honour, are we ready to begin?"

"No, there's still someone missing." Rau said as he recalled the recon ship from before.

At that moment, the door opened and a younger officer floated in, his uniform a slight mess, his sleeves slightly rolled up, and his collar undone.  
"Ah here's the bridge." The man said to no one in particular as he announced his arrival.

"Who's this?" Leif asked whilst eyeing them critically.

"Commander Lou Casul, seventh patrol fleet, I was given orders to join with the battlegroup as soon as possible." The slightly messy officer said with a lazy salute.

Leif didn't seem to take to the man very well, eyeing him as suspicious, either that or she was scrutinizing his appearance. Sato just didn't look at the man with a good impression, Captain Nader didn't seem to particularly care and Biden gave the man a smirk, he knew the officer in question.

Rau was honestly amused that this man was an actual officer, if anything he didn't really seem like a professional, then again, that might just be his personality. The man was part of the patrol fleet which buzzed around the Earth, and they weren't particularly famous for doing much than scouting out a location and then running away.

"Commander Lou, it is good to see you again, I do hope you didn't accidently get lost on your way to the bridge, did you?" Nader asked the man.

"Umm, no, I just had to stop to look out the port; it's a really lovely view of the debris belt."

"I can imagine." Leif said with the roll of her eyes.

"As all are now present, we can begin." Rau stated promptly interrupting before they had another distraction.

Their eyes turned to the digital display on the bridge, the display which had a layout of the surrounding space, it marked their patrol routes between the Alliance and the ZAFT forces, and it detailed the recent movement of fleets, along with outposts. So far things looked as though the Alliance was holding its forces back.

It made sense as most forays the Alliance dispatched against ZAFT were crushed quickly and brutally, sending out more ships would have been utterly futile, however there was indication that they hadn't entirely wiped out the Alliance forces, considering the remaining four fleets marked out on the map in bright red.

As they looked at the map, they noted the highlighted markings of the orbital debris zone, known as the shoals. Their current position was marked out not far from the shoals, there were also marked passages which indicated safe passages which had been documented by the recon units, either from previous excursions or recent ones.

"I'm assuming everyone has been briefed on the nature of our mission, correct?" Rau inquired across the room.

"To search and recover Ms Clyne, preferably alive and well." Captain Nader stated promptly, his stern tone making it clear what his priorities were.

"Yes, at least that is the official reason for the dispatch of so many warships to locate a single person, a feat easily accomplished by one Nazca-class and a pack of recon craft. Unofficially this operation was given a green light due to the nature of our enemy's recent developments." Rau began as he brought up the intelligence files from their recent string of failed attacks.

The others looked at the display with scrutinising eyes, their minds crunching down on this new piece of information, though Rau suspected that they had already come to learn that something was already out of place with recent battles ending in defeat of ZAFT forces engaging the Archangel or being repulsed repeatedly. He knew that these machines couldn't be left alone, not after all the effort he had put into trying to secure them, and the risks of this war dragging on into the many years ahead, before he could enact his plans.

"The Archangel and the Strike, along with this new machine, so far we've dubbed it Azure Falcon, though there are other terms being used, ours will be set as Azure. This mobile weapon is quite a tiresome foe, having repulsed multiple attempts to destroy it, as well as managing to slip through every attempt to catch it." Rau continued as he brought up the pictures of the machine in action, after the last battle, they had lost track of the Archangel and its complement of machines.

"Quite the conundrum isn't it, I don't recall any ship having escaped so many attempts to destroy, especially a lone craft." Captain Biden commented.

"Seeing as it's a new warship and the fact that it has a mobile suit, this probably didn't factor into anyone's calculations." Rau pointed out.

"Yes, we've all read the reports you've so graciously provided Commander." Leif stated in response.

"So, what are we looking at exactly?" Biden inquired.

"A pattern of movements of the debris field, either to find the Archangel and or the survivors from the Silverwind, our search pattern however will be stretched across a wide distance and area across many sectors should we attempt this. But the issue at hand is still the Archangel." Rau said while he flicked through each charted passage.

"How do you suppose we should approach this?" Leif inquired as she looked at the paths.

The group of officers thought over this complication in their plans, the operation had a large number of them involved, and Rau knew that the Gamow would continue the search for the Archangel, but chances were low they'd locate them on their own, and while he was looking for Lacus with his associated officers, they might miss any chance to hunting down the ship and its machines. But as if fate intervened, Commander Lou spoke up.

"There's a lot of activity around these areas, I know seeing as we had dispatched a recon GINN out into the area, we lost contact some time before we departed." Lou stated as he pointed out on the map.

The others were genuinely surprised as well at this new piece of information.  
"Wait, you said you had a recon GINN out that far?" Rau inquired as he looked over the data.

"We dispatched one in response to the emergency message from the PLANT Council, after that, we have nothing, only the confirmation that the GINN was destroyed, likely by a beam weapon, judging by the impact the suit must have received." He said as he recalled the event.

"A beam impact?" Nader said clearly intrigued.

"Yeah, I'm honestly surprised, it's likely someone got the drop on the GINN and destroyed it before it could report back." Lou stated with a shrug.

"Not unless you're the Archangel." Rau said aloud as he looked at the images from the destroyed GINN.

"You think the Legged Ship is in the area?" Nader asked the commander.

Rau nodded before he turned his attention to Lou. "You said you were monitoring the Alliance fleets in orbit over Earth right?" Rau asked Lou.

"Yes, the 8th fleet under the command of Admiral Halberton was sighted, about here." The commander indicated on the map in orbit. "They had their entire fleet performing a regular patrol; I was nearly spotted by a patrol of warships which were heading around high orbit, moving along this trajectory." He marked out a passage leading out beyond the debris field.

"Looks like an advanced patrol heading to Luna HQ." Biden said with scrutiny.

"No, there's something more…" Rau said as he pondered over the potential routes.

"What are you thinking Creuset?"Biden asked the commander.

"We lost the Archangel here, from Artemis, during the chaos the ship could only go in a few directions, as we had patrol circling Luna during this period, it's likely they passed through the debris belt, if that's the case…" Rau said drawing up lines.

"Then they're heading to meet with the 8th Fleet?"Lou guessed from the direction of which Rau seemed to take the conversation.

"It's very possible." Rau said as he suspected that this was the case.

Leif then interrupted. "Umm Commander, I'd like to point out that this sector is far outside of our designated search pattern and as much as we'd like to justify the risk of dealing a crippling blow against the Alliance, ignoring the risk of losing the daughter of the chairman is something I should remind you as a serious issue." She reminded the commander of their original objective.

Rau internally gritted his teeth he knew it wouldn't be so easy to just get out of saving the pink haired princess by running off to chase down a potential lead, especially under a hypothesis, he could get away with this if it wasn't for the public image on this, he could gamble it, but public backlash should he fail would be horrendous. He'd have to pull more strings than he could afford, and it might cost him more than his reputation if he failed.

"I'd prefer we confirm this before acting." Biden stated aptly.

"It is the most logical course of action, we should present viable evidence that this is the case and then pursue the enemy, but for now we will have to focus on searching the debris field." Leif stated to the gathered officers.

"Commander Lou, did you chart the course of those Alliance ships?" Rau inquired as he looked to the man.

"Yes, they're heading in on this projected course."

"I want you to stay within sensor range with your ship, seeing as you have a ship with faster speed and better sensors, this will save us a great deal of effort."

"You want me to go on alone with a single craft to keep tabs on an Alliance patrol in order to catch if there is any indication of the Legged Ship in the area?"

"Yes, meanwhile the rest of our battlegroup with scour the area near the last known position of the Silverwind and progress along a projected pattern following the axis of Earth, which will allow us to stay within relative range of the Alliance patrol group, but we will rely upon you."

Commander Lou smiled.  
"Alright if you want me to do that for you, I'll do it."

It was a rather concerning fact that they were making a detour from their intended mission, but with the risk of the Archangel and the 8th Fleet regrouping meant that there was a highly probable risk of them losing the chance to corner the ship and destroy it. Not only this, but there was also the potential risk of the knowledge of the G-weapons project and the Archangel making it safely to Alaska HQ.

However this did seem to run against their objective to secure the daughter of the Chairman, so it was up in the air whether or not they'd be able to settle this matter, regardless this was the decision of the Commander, and he was given charge of this operation. They would have to trust his judgement in this matter, and most of them did, his record spoke for itself, though Captain Nader and Commander Leif were more focused on completing their objective, which was clear at least to them.

They were more concerned about following their objective of recovering the Chairman's daughter, regardless, they were supposed to be the more pragmatic of their force, Nader being a trusted ally to Clyne's family. This course of action would no doubt be criticised, but seeing as their limited choices and their standing orders, it'd have to be done.

XXXXX

Aboard the Archangel, the crew prepared for an exciting day, they were expected to meet up with their allies from the 8th fleet; the advanced patrol group under the command of Captain Nolan Amir had designated a rendezvous site, where the Archangel would be able to finally get proper relief and support.

The ship was a buzz of activity as the crew got the ship ready, work crews doubled their shifts to get repairs completed as soon as possible. As for the civilians aboard the ship, many were relieved at the news that they were finally going to be in friendly lines for once, and a few rejoiced with this news, planning on throwing a small celebration down in the mess hall.

Of course such plans would have to wait until they actually made actual contact with the advanced patrol group, until then they were to remain waiting in the designated quarters. Of course this didn't really dour the mood for people, the youngsters were eager, with Flay taking it upon herself to prepare for her reunion with her father by doing a complete pedicure in as much time as she could afford, with whatever water they had in surplus of as well.

Meanwhile Kira was busy training with Ray again, this time in the use of guns, well paint guns, Ray felt that Kira's zero gee training was lacking, so he took the young man out for a fun game of tag using the paint guns the work crew had available, this sort of peeved a few of them, but most enjoyed the short exercise the duo were engaged in.

This was only further escalated by Mu deciding to drop in with the other crew members, Tolle and Sai having to participate in the game alongside Mu who wanted to try and gauge Ray's abilities for himself. Their game was a quick and messy endeavour, resulting in an entire area of the hangar being decorated in hues of green and blue, despite the best efforts by the work crew to cover the area up in tarps.

Still it was enjoyable while it lasted, and everyone had time to mingle more, it also gave Ray time to give pointers to Kira and the others in regards to 3D combat, that there were quite a few factors to keep in mind of when strafing whilst on the move, nor to mention having to account for drift and inertial movements.

He also made some effort to try and teach Kira a few moves which would no doubt aid him in the future, should he ever come face to face with a tougher opponent. Though with the way things were going, they were going to encounter something sooner or later out here, likely Rau himself operating a mobile suit to counter the Strike and Eventide.

Another troublesome issue was the upcoming battle between the escort fleet and the ZAFT forces, which he couldn't avert even if he wanted to, ZAFT likely had patrol ships out in the region, tracking their movements. It would happen regardless, and Ray knew it, this battle had to happen, and if he attempted to interfere here, he knew it'd raise a lot more questions, ones which he couldn't just lie through his teeth about or cover up.

In this scenario they were going to have to deal with whatever came next, be it good or bad, he knew it, as he looked through his compact computer, he thought about the course of the future, the potential fallout from saving Flay's father or letting him die. He knew that saving Flay's father would more than likely detail the timeline, and there was no telling where it might end up going.

But in the grand scheme of things, it was an acceptable risk, seeing as he knew what would happen if George died, then the course of history wouldn't change all that much, should he live, well the outcome might be interesting. Not to mention the potential for what might come as part of this, convincing the foreign minister of the folly of continuing the war might help turn sentiments around.

But this was all speculative, and he had no idea what the man was like besides what was revealed in the light novels and manga, being a protective father figure who cared for his family, he wasn't necessarily ambitious, but he was dedicated to pursuing the political aims of this war. Now Ray knew that there was a chance to turn this all around, but he'd need leverage, and something to convince the man that it wasn't worth trying to drag this war out, or better yet, allow him to create opposition.

The military operator couldn't help but wonder whether or not he'd be able to pull something that introvert, it'd require him taking in many unknown variables, not to mention having to save Allster first before Rau could kill him and turn this entire situation into an utter cluster fuck.

Ray had gone over plans to upgrade a few features on the Strike for combat, one notable upgrade being the side mounted disposable missile canisters, which could be detached once fired. The other was the alterations made to the Strike's Aile pack, modifying the manoeuvring thrusters onto the shoulders allowing increased turn and sideways movements.

Of course this plan had actually been to upgrade the Strike's combat capabilities for when they went down to Earth, Ray had access to the entire database on SEED's mobile suit designs, including the Astray units, like the Gale Strike Gundam, which boasted a highly manoeuvrable frame with high close combat capabilities.

Of course this was going to have to be something he'd look into later, but for now, making suitable upgrades for Kira seemed like the best option, seeing as how they were still in space. Kira was going to need as many advantages as he could get if he wanted to see things through, but there was also this nagging feeling that Ray couldn't shake.

Instincts told him that something big was going to happen, and he couldn't shake the feeling, and his instincts were in most cases right when it came down to imminent danger, he wasn't sure what was going to happen, but he knew that he'd better be prepared for whatever might come. The trouble is that he couldn't imagine what sort of obstacle lay ahead now.

His intervention had either a small impact as of late, aside from Artemis, but that'd take a while for the impact to grow to fruition, in the case of ZAFT however, he wasn't sure, Eventide hadn't transformed, and it hadn't drawn overwhelming attention from being a real pain in the ass to get rid of.

However it didn't mean that Rau Le Creuset would turn a blind eye to its interventions, no doubt the man had something up his sleeves. And he didn't like it…

XXXXX

The recon craft had managed to track the ships, aboard the ship, Commander Lou couldn't help but grin as fortune smiled upon him, it took a few hours of having to make difficult manoeuvres around the asteroid field, having to navigate his way through by visual sight alone. But the rewards were magnificent, tailing the Alliance patrol group without being tracked.

It was at this time that the recon ship managed to tap into the communications coming from the patrol group.  
"How's the communication encryptions?"

"Poor as usual, they've been transmitting on the same frequency, looks like they're desperate to get a response, we've gotten enough evidence, they're expecting to rally with the Archangel, at locations designated." The cyber warfare operator stated bringing up the intelligence.

Lou then sighed.  
"Well damn, looks like Rau was right on the mark, contact the Versailles, the net is set."

Lou couldn't help but wonder what Creuset would have planned with this new development, but seeing as this was the man who was so determined to hunt down the Alliance vessel, it could only mean something only Creuset would attempt, risk or no risk.

XXXXX

Down in the general quarters of the ship, Kira had gone and decided to visit Lacus again today, that and he also wanted to give her lunch, seeing as the chefs were busy dealing with a special surprise being planned out by the civilians on the ship and the crew who had decided to participate. Everyone was down getting ready for the celebration whilst he decided to chat with Lacus.

Upon opening the door, he was greeted by the gentle humming from the girl, her pink robot gently chiming a tone in synch with her. The girl turned to him.  
"Hello again." Lacus greeted Kira as he returned to see the girl.

"Hi, I brought you breakfast, sorry about the wait though, things have been rather busy." Kira said with a warm tone as he set the food onto the table in the room.

"I've noticed quite a lot's been going on, is everything alright?"

"Oh, yes, we're expected to meet up with other Alliance vessels soon, so things are a little hectic. It's been a difficult week for most of us."

"I understand."

Kira stood there for a moment, thinking about what he wanted to ask, he was hesitant in his approach mainly because of the situation the girl was in. He wanted to believe that she'd be alright, but seeing as how the Alliance was against coordinators, this placed her into a very serious predicament, a lot more difficult than his own, if he was honest with himself.

He was a random civilian caught up in the midst of this war, this girl was the daughter of the PLANT's chairman, and this really didn't seem like something he was comfortable with letting go. But he knew that she was still just a girl thrown into an unfavourable situation, like everyone else, nobody deserved this.

As they enjoyed their moment of peace together, the sounds of sirens rang throughout the ship.

XXXXX

With the ZAFT battlegroup...

It took a bit of time to get the fleet into position and organise a battle plan for their engagement with the Archangel, Rau was quite happy with what he saw, the report indicated that there was a total of five ships, and plus the Archangel, his battle strategy was going to have to ensure that the Archangel wasn't able to escape quickly. But to achieve this meant that he'd have to think outside the box.

"How would we manage to encircle the Archangel and the Alliance patrol group before they can escape?"

"From the size and disposition, I'd say we should attack with an advanced group of two ships, the Gamow and Versailles and then bring the Raeford and Hauser from a flanking position, it'd be the most effective strategy."

"It won't work, should the captain of that ship spot our flanking manoeuvre they'd immediately turn to punch a hole clean through our lines before we could completely encircle them. Even if we wiped out their patrol, it'd fall short if the Archangel got away."

"Keeping the ships close at within a set proximity without allowing an easy escape would be best, but that open area, makes such a strategy difficult."

"It's open space..." Rau said while he looked at the display, it was then something clicked in his mind. "Open space..."

"Pardon sir?"The captain replied clearly confused at his remark.

"How many tow cables do we have?"

"Collectively, we have more than enough for towing all the ships, but they're not meant to tow more than a set classification." The captain stated.

"Don't worry about that, we only need them to hold together long enough." Rau stated as he formulated a new plan.

XXXXX

Sai and the others had been in the mess hall with their guests, all cheerfully celebrating their planned return to Alliance lines, and hopefully the near end of this tense misadventure that they'd all be forced to endure. Sai was in the midst of chatting with Kuzzey about whether they'd be able to get around to playing games like they'd used to.

Miriallia and Tolle were enjoying a moment together getting a cup of coffee with a slice of cake the cooks had baked with assistance with a couple of volunteers from the civilians. Amidst all of the past tension this week, they got the chance to finally get together and enjoy their time together and actually connect.

Though connect might not have been an appropriate word of Tolle kissing Miriallia at the table with others looking on in surprise, it was a moment of joy after all of the stress of life and death that they'd been dancing with.

"Is that enough?"

"Tolle!" Miriallia said embarrassed with his remark.

The others looked on in surprise but they didn't say anything, aside from a few of the adults laughing at the scene approvingly, today seemed to be going on so well, despite all that they faced, it'd get better or so they hoped. Unfortunately, they didn't anticipate what the future might bring.

"Hey, here's your cake." A little girl said as she hopped over to the couple.

"Thanks for that."

As Miri and Tolle went about discussing their relationship the others decided to leave them alone for a moment, the senior bridge crew members discussed about their situation, as they did so in the comfort of their new acquaintances, the sound of alarms began to ring.

XXXXX

Alarms rang out across the ship, within the mess hall the gathered crew and civilians stood in place momentarily frozen at the sounds of sirens. It was then the PA announced.  
"All hands to battle stations, condition red, I repeat condition red, ZAFT forces are in the vicinity, Alliance Patrol Fleet is under attack, all hands are to report immediately to battle stations, non-combat personnel to emergency stations."

The crew rushed out of the mess hall in short order, a controlled scrum of bodies packed into the doorway, Sai almost tripping over Tolle to get through the doorway; meanwhile the civilians were urged to remain in their bunks until the situation was resolved, hopefully soon. Ray on the other hand was already on his way down to the hangar, Mu in tow.

"Oh of all the things that had to happen today." Mu said annoyed as he rushed down the corridor alongside Ray.

Ray remarked sharply. "That's war unfortunately, it was bound to happen, and with ZAFT's fleets patrolling the space between the Luna HQ to Earth there was a high probability that we'd encounter resistance."

"I know, but for once I'd like to get a decent amount of rest." Mu commented as they both went into the elevator.

The two went to the lockers and suited up in short order before heading down to their machines, they'd have to receive their status update and briefing as they prepared to sortie.

XXXXX

As Mu and Ray went down to the hangar, the bridge was frantic with activity. Murrue had returned to the bridge when the alarms began, she was greeted by Natarle who had a grim expression on her face.  
"Report, what's happening?"

"The 8th patrol group has fallen under attack, they're reporting a Laurasia-class ship attacking from their flank, and another approaching their front, it's a Nazca-class. They're also under attack by mobile suits, confirming their last transmission, we've determined they're some sort of elite force. There's also the stolen G-weapons, Buster, Duel and Blitz, but they're holding back."

"Creuset's team?" Murrue repeated with surprise.

"It seems like it captain." Natarle stated as the bridge crew returned to stations.

Murrue couldn't believe their luck, after all the effort they threw into avoiding the Creuset team they still ended up getting found, and they had cornered the advanced patrol fleet of all things. Leaving the patrol fleet alone was a huge risk, and Murrue knew it, if this was Creuset, then they'd be risking a great deal on the off chance they'd be able to regroup with the 8th fleet, bur running meant abandoning the foreign minister of the Alliance and risk losing the patrol group.

She couldn't help leaving the patrol to their fate.  
"Bring us to battle condition, and get the Strike, Eventide and Moebius outside as soon as they can manage."

"Aye ma'am." Natarle replied as she immediately headed off and began issuing orders.

Murrue's heart was racing, she wasn't sure what to make of all of this, this went beyond her expectations of a worst case scenario, she couldn't help but feel that something was wrong with this picture through, was it the fact that one ship was attacking while the other was holding back? There seemed to be something wrong. The stolen G-weapons weren't moving, and that made her worry more.

XXXXX

The Archangel approached the battle, from the large exchange of beam fire and explosions it seemed as though the battle was dragging on, the Nazca-class was approaching the battle slowly, but it seemed like they were acting as a blocking force to cut off any escape route for the patrol group. The ZAFT mobile suits were buzzing around the patrol group's perimeter, careful to avoid getting hit, but still laying in punishment, they were slowly picking apart the Alliance warships.

Things looked grim, but Murrue was determined to save the patrol group before they were utterly wiped out, not an easy prospect though when you factored in the sheer scale of the battle, and the number of mobile suits they were pitted against, this was going to be a long and brutal fight. But the captain felt that this was the best possible approach for them, so they were determined to relieve their allies.

Down in the hangar bay, the Eventide was being loaded onto the linear catapult alongside the Moebius, Mu signaled as he launched.  
"Moebius Zero, heading out!"

The reddish orange mobile armour shot out into the void as Ray's unit was being loaded into the starboard linear catapult, Alice greeted him.  
"Ray, all systems are functioning, we're as ready as we can be."

"Have you been able to calculate current enemy presence?"

"The Nazca-class is still a far distance, but based on the number of machines outside, they've dispatched an advanced force of mobile suits, the Alliance ships are barely holding them back." Alice reported.

Ray knew that this was going to go to utter shit once the Archangel engaged in battle thanks to Rau throwing a lot of things at the ship in order to defeat it, the man must seriously want the Archangel down, or the bastard was able to convince someone like Zala to give him support in this attack, either way this was bad news for the ship and worse news for him, thanks to the fact that he now had a fuck ton of enemies to contend with. Completing system checks, he thought over his plans to use the Eventide's mobile suit form, he'd have a lot to answer for if he went down that path.

From the console he heard Miriallia on the channel.  
"Ray, linear catapult charge is nominal."

"Understood, I'm clear to launch." Ray said.

"Good luck, and come back." Miriallia said with concern.

Ray hesitated before he replied. "I don't plan on dying in this place."

His neural link was ready as he calculated his launch trajectory.  
"Eventide, Launching..." He gunned the accelerator as he exited the ship.

In moments the Eventide shot out the ship at tremendous speeds before making a sharp turn and splitting off to join in on the battle, Moebius had gotten ahead of him, already diving into the midst of the chaotic battle, the Alliance vessels were holding up valiantly, despite the disadvantage they were in, mobile armours zipped around, attempting to chase off the attackers, but to no avail, they were hopelessly outmatched. One by one the small fighter units were downed, meanwhile the primary battleships continued to fight.

It was then Ray spotted a team of customised GINN HMTs with assault shrouds, overkill for many reasons, they were special upgrades for veteran pilots and elite units. Seeing as ZAFT couldn't produce GINN HMTs fast enough, they decided to improve upon the pre-existing machines by adding assault shrouds, for added firepower.

Another bad side to these upgrades was that they also featured an experimental Type-2 Mod 1 linear gun, a step up from the 27mm experimental type machine guns. They were meant to be similar in design to the 27mm, but superior in firepower and range. Adding in the added firepower and improved armour equipment the assault shroud a real pain in the ass.

Things were certainly picking up alright, if they were throwing an entire team of mobile suits operated by such pilots then it was clear that ZAFT wasn't holding its punches, they were gunning for the patrol fleet, and they were determined to down it.

"Warrant officer, what are those?"Murrue asked from the bridge, tension in her tone.

"GINN High Manoeuvre Type, with assault shroud upgrades, just fucking lovely." Ray said with disdain as he realised that they were facing even more difficult opponents.

"What's the matter?" Mu inquired at the tone of his voice.

"They're not normal GINNs and they're much more advanced, packing added firepower and armour upgrades, my beam rifle might be good, but those machines got a lot more to throw in than a squadron of GINNs." Ray said as they made their way into the battle.

"Well that's not discouraging at all." Mu added sarcastically as he engaged in battle.

"Keep on the watch, we're going in hot." Ray said as the suits closed distance.

Ray knew from reading up on the GINN HMTs that they were issued to special units or elites; they were sparingly used until the later end of the war and the interwar period of the SEED timeline. This meant that those operating the suits were better than regular GINN pilots, but they hadn't encountered his Eventide, so he had the advantage of surprise.

He knew that his Lancer had range, and it would be able to get one or two, but the others were going to adapt quickly and try and close distance fast, keep him from supporting the Archangel and the Strike, which was going to be a real pain in the ass in itself. But it was expected, they needed to keep him away as long as they can pound the Archangel and Strike, the Mobius was another issue, with that in mind, he went pre-emptive.

Crosshairs locked on the first suit he knew he could down, and he pulled the trigger, his shot went straight and on target, the occupying pilot of the machine had barely a scant couple of seconds to react, but never got his chance as he was struck. The beam slicing his suit open, and the pilot being incinerated as his body boiled away.

The GINN HMT erupted into a fireball, sending the others scattering, they were honestly surprised at how their first team member was shot down so quickly. But he was able to follow up rapidly, managing to fire off three more shots before he was soon barraged by shots from opposing units. The pilots were quick to zero in on his long ranged fire, forcing him to pull back and try to angle his unit on an intercept trajectory.

His machine zipped forward, laying down a barrage of missiles and beam shots, managing to clip another GINN HMT AS unit, though with less success. He forced the second machine to withdraw with a direct impact upon their suit. But this just left the two units, one of which he recognised by the markings on its armour, the mark of an old enemy in the series.

"Commander Sato?" He thought as he realised the distinctive markings of the crossed swords and bloody hand, the man was rather well known, but he didn't really show up aside from the manga and that was in a prologue chapter, his contributions were largely in Destiny.

But this timeline was different, if that was the case, then things had changed a lot more. This made things complicated for Ray, as now he had Sato to contend with in battle. This was a very bad thing for Ray, as he knew that the Archangel was now at a serious disadvantage, being pitted against multiple units which weren't regulars, and being commanded by Sato, who wasn't meant to show up until much later.

Now the situation was down the shitter faster than he could down bottles of cold Jack Daniels on a Summer Sunday. Slamming the accelerator, he decided to start playing for real; the risk was way too high to ignore the danger present to the Archangel, if Sato's unit was here, the Rau got a lot more to his force.

XXXXX

From the approaching vector, the Versailles made its final approach, the ship was prepared for battle.  
Rau watched as the battle unfolded, he saw the Archangel throw itself into the battle, determined to break through to its beleaguered allies, as the ship had entered into the net, Rau executed the next phase of his plan.  
"Have Yzak's unit move in from the Gamow, make sure to tie down the Strike and other machines as much as possible, this will be crucial if we want to achieve victory." He told the captain.

"Aye commander."

"And now, for us to unveil our welcoming gift." He turned his attention to the tethered ships hiding in the shadow of the Versailles.

"Captain Nader, Captain Biden, we're now in position, begin flanking maneuvers once we detach the tethers." He told them promptly.

"Understood." Nader responded as he began issuing orders.

The Raeford, and Hauser detached their cables, allowing them to drift off one at a time behind the shadow of the Nazca-class and split off.

XXXXX

The remainder of Creuset's team were now joining the fray, seeing as they were behind due to their launching position. Regardless, this added in a volatile mix which would no doubt just throw things in favour for the ZAFT forces in this battle. Yzak led the charge with Blitz and Buster in tow, laying down on the Alliance fleet, they were quick to locate the Archangel and Strike, along with the Eventide.

"I see it, it's engaged with Lieutenant Commander Sato's unit." Nicol said as they approached the battlefield.

"This time I'll down that bastard for sure!" Yzak snarled as he gunned his engines forward.

The members of the Gamow were coming in hot, with their target in sight; they were going to carve a bloody path, especially with the 3 G-weapons at their disposal. Duel took point alongside the Buster; the Blitz was taking the rear of their formation. The rest of the mobile suits hanging back were ordered to act as a blocking force to hold any attempted breakthrough.

Upon entering the combat zone, the Duel gunned right for the Eventide, Yzak wasting no time on trying to down the mobile suit as fast as possible. Beam rifle spouting off green beams as the pilot tried to take his hatred out on the one bastard who had given him so much trouble over the last week.

Ray saw this and immediately took evasive manoeuvres and retaliated with a missile barrage which he knew wouldn't work against all 3 suits. It did buy him time to gain additional ground, and give him time to let loose with his beam weapons, peppering the three suits and driving them back before allowing Lt La Flaga to start pummelling them with his cannon shots.

"Thanks for the assist, didn't really need it though." Ray said jokingly.

"Right." Mu said as he snickered.

They were quick to separate the suits and throw them into confusion, before they split off into two directions, Ray knew that he had to keep the pressure off the Alliance warships as much as possible with Minister Allstar on the Law, he knew it was a powdered keg ready to blow, and one lucky shot would send that ship down.

Duel and Buster pursued him while the Blitz went after the Mobius Zero, this was just as he needed as he knew that Mu could handle the single machine, but for him, he just needed to put them off from attacking the Montgomery which had George Allstar on board. Though there was no guarantee that it'd survive if things went to utter shit.

Now all he had to do was hold these bastards off from downing the Archangel, Strike and Mobius Zero. Assuming that this situation wasn't going to turn to utter and complete shit. As he dodged another beam blast, he did a flip and lashed out at the two machines, forcing them apart, it seemed like his usual manoeuvres weren't going to work as effectively now.

Yzak was a hothead, but he wasn't pants on head retarded, at least not here, the pilot knew to memorise Ray's attack patterns. As he blazed past, the Duel and Buster doubled down and struck with a concentrated barrage, narrowly missing Ray's left engine and almost clipping his wing, Ray kept ahead with his thrusters and sensing the impending attack.

He then turned in to attack the Duel, managing to give Yzak a scare with a concentrated attack on his shoulder, knocking the Duel backwards, Yzak cussed as he found no opening. Buster took up the attack and attempted to down him with a combined attack, narrowly missing him, Ray managed to get around and retaliate. The battle dragged on as he fought the two machines, but it seemed as though fate was about to throw him another curve ball.

"Ray, we have incoming enemy reinforcements!" Alice alerted him.

Ray pulled his attack back as he heard the warning, he immediately pinwheeled around and saw the source of Alice's alert.  
"You've got to be fucking shitting me!"

The attention from the Archangel and the rest of the Alliance fleet turned to the approaching ships, multiple ZAFT warships, with the Nazca-class under Rau's command, these two ships began to circle around them. On top of this, the ships began to deploy teams of mobile suits, aside from one, but it didn't matter, they were completely surrounded now.

"Captain!" Ray called the Archangel.

"We see it." Murrue said with gritted teeth.

"How the hell did they manage to get that many ships out here so quickly?" Mu said as he looked at the combined numbers of ships now coming around them.

"Probably hid the ships in the shadow of the Nazca-class, if I had to hazard a guess, it's probably why it was hanging back for so long, wait for us to dedicate ourselves into the battle and spring the trap." Ray stated as the battle continued.

"Captain, what are we going to do?" Kira asked as he looked around the number of enemy ships and suits now around them.

"I don't know." Murrue replied as the battle intensified.

The Archangel made a sharp turn to block the attacks coming from thew newly arrived Nazca-class closing from their flank, meanwhile the others were turning to face the oncoming Laurasia-class approaching from the other flank. The Alliance fleet commander called.  
"Hell of a time to come to our rescue, but it looks like we don't need rescuing as much as you do now." Captain Amir stated.

"Captain, are you alright?" Murrue asked with concern.

"Law's been damaged, but she's still fighting, the others aren't doing so well, and now we've got this to contend with. I thought I sent you a warning to turn away and get away from us."

"We thought it was better to come and render assistance."

"Well it's not use now, we're utterly surrounded." The captain told her with a dismal tone.

"But we're not dead!" Ray cut in.

"Who are you?" He asked as he eyed Ray with suspicion.

Ray introduced himself promptly. "Warrant Officer, Ray Hyung, Alliance Special Operations Naval Warfare. Captain, I know this situation is grim, but it isn't entirely hopeless, we still can get loose if we can find a weakness somewhere in their formation, it might not be all that good, but better than waiting to die or surrender."

"Brave words, do you have any sort of idea on how to get out of a ZAFT encirclement?" Amir asked the man with the grim smile on his face.

Ray then smiled.  
"I thought you'd never ask."

XXXXX

AN: Alright, I'm sorry to cut things short, times short these days, and making this into one chapter would be a real pain in the ass, the original word count went over 17,000 so I'm not going to post this all at once.


	7. Chapter 6

Trailblazer awakened... (Part 2)

XXXXX

The attention of the gathered officers on the com channel had been intent, they listened as best they could to Ray as he pitched his plan.  
"To put it simply we have to breach the perimeter as quickly as possible before we're overrun, I can't see many options we could to pull this off, but my plan is to breach by punching a hole through the encirclement, using the Archangel and Eventide, I'd be able to disable the Laurasia-class's weapon systems and cripple its engines while the Archangel plows forward. Meanwhile we bring the Montgomery and the others behind us, but we use two Drake-class ships to screen our flanks."

"Do you mean we should sacrifice two ships to guard the flanks?" Murrue asked him with some disbelief.

"Skeleton crews only, I can't see much of an option there." Ray admitted grimly.

"That plan sounds like it could get us all killed!" Lieutenant Badgiruel with exasperated breath.

Ray promptly reminded her of their situation. "It's the only other option we've got, the other being to slowly get crushed between Creuset's forces from all around us, and I don't need to tell you how slow and painful that's going to be." He said heatedly.

"The bastard does love to strangle us to death when he gets the chance." Mu commented as he circled around the Archangel.

"Captain Amir, do you have any idea how long it might take before reinforcements reach us?"Murrue asked in the vague hope of kindling some sort of defensive strategy.

"Not fast enough, our ships are damaged, and our mobile armours have limited armaments, I doubt they'll last longer if we keep this up." Amir said as he reminded Murrue.

"Then I don't see much choice, I support Warrant Officer Ray on the next course of action, hopefully we'll be able to pull off this insane plan you've concocted." Murrue decided to concede to this idea.

Badgiruel didn't like this but she didn't make any further objections knowing that she wouldn't have had much to say in terms of devising an alternate strategy to a clearly dire scenario, no matter how you looked at it, there wasn't much in the way to tell you that you were going to die.

"Thank you Captain." Ray said as he headed off to clear up their flank. "I'll clear us some more breathing space, you'd all better get ready to make the first move." He told them.

The plan was simple enough, break through the encirclement. The details were a little hazy, but Ray had thought of potential downsides of fighting in the Gundam universe, one big problem being energy weapons, and he knew how much in Gundam Seed that there was tons of beam spamming at least in the mobile suit department, ships were a little more reasonable, and mobile suits till this point aside from the Gundams had beam weapons, so it didn't pose a really big issue.

He had Alice create anti-beam countermeasures for use, dispersal pods which could encompass a large area for a short period of time, long enough to cut beam efficiency to nil, from there, it'd give him a momentary edge, as his unit didn't just use beam weapons, and beam sabres did also work to a very limited degree even in an anti-beam field. But he had other ideas, the mobile armours would have a better fighting chance as would the Moebius Zero as their weapons wouldn't be directly affected by the field, of course this meant that the ships beam weapons were out of the question.

The good news was that the beam weapons used by the Gundams and ZAFT suits wouldn't work either, in which case, it all boils down to projectile weapons, which the GINNs still have, but they wouldn't be able to switch their armaments fast enough, so launching an assault during this time would more than likely catch them off guard. The trouble was that the field only encompasses a small area so to speak, and once the ship leaves it, then it was going to be a free for all.

"Shit, I think I'm in over my head." Ray laughed as he slipped by the Montgomery as he engaged a GINN HMT, he couldn't help but wonder if his own division commander would have smacked him over the head for suggesting something so fucking reckless, either that or asked him to rethink his approach.

XXXXX

The bridge was still a flurry of activity with the CIC doing its utmost to keep defences going, their fire control system was running at maximum trying to keep up with all the sensor contacts and the bridge crew were still running the numbers. Miriallia had swapped out for a break and Sai was now running her station, meanwhile the sensor operators were swapped as well, trying to alleviate the exhausted bridge crew. Lieutenant Badgireul and Captain Ramius were in the midst of organising their withdrawal with the surviving elements of the fleet, a process which was proving a little difficult to time as the Drake-classes were still trying to fend off attacks, but a window of opportunity was coming up soon.

"Do you think this was the best idea for letting him lead this plan?"Natarle asked as they prepared for their departure from the area.

"We don't have any choice, options are running out and so is our breathing space, Strike is going to run out of energy soon enough and Moebius will need to rearm, we have to breakthrough while we still can or we'll be finished off." Murrue replied promptly, her tone didn't betray the doubt she had though.

"But first we need to weaken a section of their flank before we move, if Ray's prediction is right then we'll move in on the Laurasia-class located to the starboard section of our formation, then make a hard bank, assuming that Rau doesn't cut in and stop us." Natarle stated her scepticism about this plan.

"I know, but we don't have a great deal of options and time isn't on our side." She said tersely before they were alerted to the sudden flash of an explosion.

"Ma'am escort 3 is hit!" Romero reported urgently.

The Drake-class was struck multiple times in the engine section, causing a series of explosive decompression and fires to break out, as per the response to such crippling damage the ship ditched its engines as quickly as it could to avoid catastrophic damage, but the damaged vessel was unable to jettison the second engine. The resulting explosion caught the Drake-class escort by the port side, resulting in a blast which sent the ship spinning out of control, thrusters desperate to correct the orientation failed to slow the momentum.

The bridge crew watched in horror as the ship drifted aimlessly in a spiral pinwheel, drifting off as it vented atmosphere and whatever else inside, the loss of the ship, seemed like a signal for the ZAFT forces to keep up their attack as the firing resumed, with a barrage of attacks along the left formation. Beam fire intensified as the remaining escorts attempted to suppress the barrage of attacks. Murrue gritted her teeth.  
"How long can we sustain this?" She asked herself grimly.

Natarle looked just a grimly at the situation, they weren't in a good situation, and it seemed as though Ray's option for an exit was all they had, regardless of how reckless it seemed, it was their only option to escape this death trap. She hated to admit it, but Ray seemed to always have an answer for all these situations, and it kept raising more questions, of course whether or not this would succeed was anyone's guess.

All around her a cacophony of verbal exchanges were all but drowned out amidst the reverberation of shockwaves and alarms going off around them, the battlefield all around, the fight had become a brutal slug out between the remaining Alliance ships against the ZAFT. The Lieutenant headed back to her station once confirming their status on the remaining ships, there was no going around this much longer, they had to breakthrough. Murrue issued their orders, hopefully they'd be able to regroup fast enough and get on with this desperate plan.

XXXXX

Meanwhile...

Buster and Duel had come at Ray once more, the furious duo of Gundam pilots were more than desperate to gut the Eventide as they pressed the attack, this time they were alternating their attack pattern with Duel coming in after Buster unleashing a barrage, denying him the opportunity to retaliate effectively. Ray narrowly dodged a burst from the Buster before Duel came swinging in with its beam sabre and rifle, laying down suppressive fire as it attempted to get into range with its sabre.

"Shit, looks like they're getting the hang of fighting me." He said to Alice.

"I concur." Alice remarked as she helped to orientate the Eventide around the attack.

They swung in and he lashed out with a concentrated barrage of beam shots and a few missiles, keeping Duel off his back before engaging the Buster, his proximity to Duel denying the Buster a clear shot before he manage to strike a blow against the machine with a concentrated burst from his Lancer, slicing through the buster's beam gun and forcing the machine back again.

The Gundams peeled off from the battle, having exhausted themselves, he knew that Yzak and Dearka would back off and come back to try and clobber him again, but for now he had bought a short reprieve for him and the Archangel. And in this short opening, he knew that they had one chance to pull this off.  
"Captain, please tell me preparations have been completed."He asked as he took a moment to examine his surroundings.

The battle had begun to reach equilibrium, no doubt the ZAFT units had exhausted themselves from fighting him and wasting so much munitions, the situation allowed them to breathe a little easier for the moment, but they knew it wouldn't last long, their plan had to be put into effect before then.

Murrue's appearance looked haggard, but she was still quite calm. "We've completed transferring what crews we could manage, we're ready to go when you are." She informed him.

"Good." He said as he turned the Eventide to the Archangel.

"Looks like it's time, load the missile pods with beam chaff, load as much as you can, we're going to need all of it for this battle." He said to Alice.

'Damn and I just got those canisters readied for the next battle.' He thought back to his plans for helping the 8th fleet.

He signalled the Archangel.  
"Captain, approaching your starboard, preparing for swing around." He said as he calculated the correct trajectory.

"Understood, good luck." She said as they got going.

The Archangel moved ahead, its engines igniting behind it, leaving a trail of plasma exhaust, from all around, the others began to move as well, Amir and his remaining ships moved on ahead, quick to keep pace, the Drake-classes maintaining the screen between the Montgomery and the other ZAFT ships. Ray saw the time to act, he armed the first canisters and dropped them in succession, knowing that they'd cover the movement of the Alliance vessels, the rest on the other hand would be needed to cover Archangel as it approached the Laurasia-class.

The canisters fired out across the battlefield, each canister was loaded with compound ionized particles, and this would be enough to attenuate the beam efficiency by over 99 percent. Such an effect would be capable of deterring beam savvy users to rethink their approach. Thankfully neither ZAFT nor the EA Forces had ever encountered anti-beam countermeasures like these before, so it would play well for this plan, though he knew it'd raise a lot of questions later. He'd probably have to come up with some bullshit excuse for the captain and his report to the EA.

The canisters detonated in succession, allowing the area to be saturated in a fine mist of glittering gold and yellow, the Laurasia-class fired a burst from its beam weapons, intending to gun for the Archangel. But to their honest surprise and shock, their beam strikes never reached, the emerald beams were dissipated by the condensed field of ionised particles, absorbing and dispersing the heat generated by the beams over a wide area.

It was at this time the bridge crew reacted.  
"Fire valiants and sledgehammers!" Murrue commanded as they entered firing range.

The Archangel unleashed its main guns, and lay down a missile barrage on top, striking the Laurasia-class and its surrounding mobile suits. The shots were dead on target, striking the portside linear guns and drive section. As for the missile barrage, the missiles were enough to drown out opposition fairly quickly.

Most machines didn't have enough time to dodge, as the pilots were assuming the beam shots would have been enough to deal with the oncoming ship. The barrage caught two machines, obliterating them in seconds, and crippling a third, driving them away from the Archangel. The captain of the Laurasia-class realised the immediate danger and ordered flanking speed to get out of reach of the Archangel's primary guns.

Ray came in from behind the Archangel, having spotted the opportunity he needed, he came in fast.  
"Executing manoeuver!" He declared as he came around.

The Archangel stopped firing in order to allow him to execute his attack vector, throwing his machine around the side of the Archangel with a grappling wire, he was able to make the turn in a split second allowing momentum to carry the Eventide forward while the Laurasia-class attempted to peel off, Ray was able to flank the ship quickly.  
"Surprise, mother fuckers!" He said ecstatically through gritted teeth.

He got in close and managed to fire off a cloister of missiles in close range, enough to divert the CIWS on the Laurasia-class and his machine, he dove in and sliced his way into the first turret and disabled another with his integrated machine guns. The missiles he fired off picked off point defence turrets and damaged the starboard thrusters of the ship.

Realising that they wouldn't be able to hang into the battle, the ship peeled off and circled around, laying down missiles as it went, as for the remaining mobile suits that had been circling the area were given temporary recalls. The battle had turned on its head, with the Archangel now able to move forward without having to worry about the Laurasia-class blocking its path, the other Alliance vessels followed behind quickly, laying down suppressing fire as they did so.

As Ray circled around he contacted the ship.  
"Ha, you've got your window."

"Good work, we're pressing the attack and moving to exit the area, the Montgomery sustained a bit of damage, but she's still hanging on." Murrue reported.

"Kira, Mu, get back and rearm, they're making a temporary withdrawal. There's no point in slugging it out here." Ray said to the other pilots.

"Understood." Mu said before he turned around.

"What about you Ray? You've been fighting everything off as it stands." Kira asked as he saw Eventide turn back to the Alliance ships.

"I'm used to prolonged battles, I can handle this, and besides, I'm not out of tricks or weapons, I'll be able to manage."He said reassuringly as he headed back.

"But-."Kira was about to begin.

"I said go, you need to rearm and cool off. I've got the rest here." Ray said cutting him off as he turned back to the battlefield. "You only got another fifteen minutes before the anti-beam field I put up disperses, get rest and come back, I'm sure the captain agrees with my stance on this."

"Agreed, Kira, it's best your return, the Strike's going to need time to recharge." Murrue urged the young man.

"I'm heading back." Kira replied, but he took a moment to ask Ray.  
"What are you going to do?"

"Stick it out, see how many more I can hold off." He said as he rushed off to engage the remaining ZAFT units harassing the ships.

Kira turned the Strike around and headed back, leaving Ray in his Eventide to face off the remaining mobile suits which were still buzzing around.  
"Alice, make sure to keep notes on his behavior, don't want him to grow too attached to me now do we?" Ray said as he thought about his future plans.

XXXXX

Back aboard the Archangel, Flay was wandering around the ship, the rocking of explosions had given her constant shakes, and anxiety plagued her mind, unable to determine what she was going to do. The situation was chaos, utter chaos. Every shake and shudder she could feel, rattled her bones. She exited the safety of her confined room, wandering into the corridor.

"Hurry up damn it, we're swapping out with maintenance team 6, come on. Rearming the Mobius and Strike is priority." A maintainer said as he rushed down the hall with others in tow.

"Aye." The engineers yelled in response.

Upon hearing of the Strike, Flay wandered on, looking around for the elevator. She knew that if the Strike had returned, then Kira had come back.  
"He said it would be fine, he promised me." She repeated to herself.

"Kira!" Flay said as she entered the changing room.

Kira turned to see her entering the room. "Flay?" He said perplexed.

"Oh boy." Mu muttered as he continued to sip his bottle of water.

Kira was taken aback by Flay's sudden appearance, he only had to to set his bottle aside when he was suddenly embraced by the panic stricken girl.  
"What's happening, where's my father, why's the battle still going on?" She asked worriedly.

Kira wasn't sure how to respond, this was not something he was used to, and he was supposed to be resting. He tried to make some sort of reassurance.  
"Flay, we're still out there fighting, your father's aboard the 'Montgomery' he's still alive. But we're in a difficult battle right now. We're trying to get him out along with the ship to safety. Please you need to go back and wait."

"You said you promised, you said you'd make sure my daddy came back."The girl said with a tense tone.

"I know." He said to her, recalling his words.

Inwardly Kira was in turmoil, his battle with Ahtrun was turning him inside out, he didn't want to see a close friend killed, but he was desperately trying to come to terms with fighting his friend. This wasn't something he wanted, but everything was pushing them against one another, whether they wanted to or not.

Mu interrupted with a gentle cough.  
"Kira, I think you might want to take Miss Allster to her room, it's better to stay in quarters, especially in the midst of a battle." He gave Kira a curt nod, indicating what he meant by his words.

Kira understood and gently guided the redhead out of the room; he continued to try and console her about the current situation, hoping it would be enough. As the ship was rocked by another explosion the girl whimpered as she held him close, Kira was uncertain how to deal with this sort of response. But he tried, speaking carefully, he told her.  
"Flay, we're doing all we can, and I'm doing all I can. Can you just accept that?"

"But you promised, and so did all of you." She said in a soft but hardened tone, a tense moment of desperation stung in it.

"I know, and we aren't giving up, it's a desperate battle we're fighting. And I'm sure that your father is just as worried about you, I'm sure you can understand that."

Kira managed to get the young woman back to her room, but he felt guilty about trying to make a promise he wasn't sure he could hold to her. This entire situation was so hectic, he wasn't sure why he was reacting like this, ever since his talk with Ray, and Ray's constant insistence he learn how to protect himself, Kira had been fighting with his internal troubles.

As he departed, the girl stared out blankly, her heart feeling like ice, she was uncertain about all of this; all she knew was that coordinators were trying to kill her father.  
'Coordinators…'

The redhead heard the gentle tune of a song…

XXXXX

Meanwhile…

Rau had to commend the pilot of the strange new fighter, he was definitely making things interesting, the battle was heavily in his favour, and now it was an utter mess. The blue fighter had turned things in favour of the Alliance ships dispersing some sort of particle field which disrupted beam weapons, allowing the Alliance to utilise the maximum effectiveness of their rail guns and missiles rather than beam weapons.

This fighter was a remarkable piece of hardware, having downed quite a few machines and holding its own very well against the G-weapons, it was truly an astonishing piece of technology no doubt having brought the situation around, but it irked him that they were making their escape, despite how much

"Commander, your CGUE Voltaire has finished being retrofitted, it's down in the hangar." Captain Fredrik informed him.

"Ah good, it's time then." He said eagerly clapping his hands together,

"Though I am curious as to why you would want that peculiar modification for your unit."

"It's something Zodiac Arms wished to test before we tried again, besides, I'd like to test my potential." Rau informed the captain.

"Do you wish to make a name for yourself or was this battle mostly to gauge the enemy's abilities?"

"It would be negligent of me to not at least attempt to try and test the abilities of the Altair, R&D had gone through such pains to develop, I'd rather like to see how well she can handle herself."He said suiting up.

"I'll be heading out now, circle around and bring the ship's guns to bear on the patrol group's command vessel, even if you don't hit it, draw its attention, that's all I'll need for now." He said as he leapt towards his suit's cockpit.

The blonde masked man promptly entered into his unit, seating himself and strapping himself in, all the while he did a quick OS check of his suit's newest features, as the suit's OS came to life, he was pleased to see that the machine had indeed full operations of its faculties, perfect for his use against the thorn in his side, and he could continue the plan, and bring about his end game.

Gleefully he smiled at this fortunate turn of events as he began to move the newly upgraded Altair to the linear catapult, every step forward across the hangar bay seemed to draw the attention of those inside, all watching in awe as the fabled commander took his chance to sortie, and grace the battlefield with his presence. Rau set the machine onto the linear catapult as the airlock doors swung closed behind him,

XXXXX

After what seemed like forever, Ray was beginning to question the validity of the anime's accuracy in depicting actual war. Unlike how people who wrote the show viewed it, some battles either are sporadic and last moments, and others can turn into a real nightmare for those involved, fighting under tremendous pressure, from all sorts of enemies.

It was almost an hour into the battle, and it was a real mess, thankfully Ray had already figured out how to keep them going, by cycling each machine carefully, one unit at a time, switch the Moebius back for the Strike and so forth. Ray didn't need to rearm or recharge as much, so he could continually jump back and forth in the engagement when needed, but that didn't change the fact that his body was under strain. Using his neural interface was slowly taking its toll on his body, and sooner or later he knew it'd give out.

But he wasn't calling it quits yet, as much as their plan was going and cycling their machines, it wasn't proving to be all that favourable for the Alliance ships, thanks to the fact that they were either damaged or crippled. The 'Law' was on her last legs and 'Bernard' was still fighting it out, with the 'Montgomery' was still in the cluster fuck of a situation, holding the battle together with grim determination.

Archangel was currently holding the rear by keeping the Laurasia-classes from circling around and scrapping the remaining Alliance vessels, it was keeping its distance which Ray had anticipated well enough. Ray's suggestion worked alright, but they had to enact their plan and fast, before the ZAFT forces completely overwhelmed them and wiped the remaining ships out.

"Captain, what's the status of the Archangel?" He asked as they continued to push past the ZAFT encirclement, the Nazca-class was moving, but it was keeping itself at a distance.

The anime wasn't quite clear on how many mobile suits were accompanying Creuset's force, but it was clear that there was about two dozen here, not an ideal situation, that was for sure. The two Alliance warships were horribly outgunned and outnumbered, with the Archangel barely making a dent in the current situation; Rau had them by the balls.

But Ray knew that this was going to happen, with the Alliance minister aboard the ship and their only source of reinforcements in reach, they were gambling a hell of a lot on this situation. And he suspected that Rau knew this as well, which was why he was so hell bent on attempting to pin them down in one area.

Facing down a force over four times their size was a stupidly dangerous move, and one he would have asked the Captain to reconsider, as this would allow Rau to corner them into a very difficult situation. But seeing as how they had Lacus aboard, he hadn't a reason to not support it, besides if they abandon the ships to their fate, Flay's father would die, and she would no doubt go on her vengeful path of self-destruction.

That crazed bitch phase that he saw in Flay could have some very negative consequences for everyone involved; then again, there was no telling how much his actions would change the course of this entire timeline.

"Warrant Officer, something's approaching the advanced recon fleet!" Lieutenant Badgiruel contacted him from the CIC.

"What?" Ray responded as he knocked back another GINN.

"We're not sure what it is, it's moving in fast, twice as fast as a GINN, the Moebius is moving to intercept but its going to reach them before Lieutenant La Flaga can intervene!" The Lieutenant reported.

"What's the silhouette?" He asked.

"Uncertain, the shape is reminiscent to that of the CGUE-515s but this is much larger." Romero reported in.

"Oh god fucking damn it!" He cussed as he turned immediately around.

XXXXX

The Drake-class which had been covering the 'Montgomery' was struck by a series of impacts, sending the ship drifting out of control, its engines were damaged and it looked as if it was about to collide with the 'Montgomery', thankfully the captain in charge of the ship saw the danger and immediately made an emergency thrust to one direction using the ship's momentum.

This move saved the ships from colliding, but it opened the 'Montgomery to attack. A white CGUE with a large bulky pack with a rifle and modified shield appeared. The machine zipped in between the damaged craft and the now exposed 'Montgomery', quickly unleashing a series of attacks from the blind spots of the ship, damaging the thrusters and disabling some of the weapon systems. Explosions rocked the ship around as it attempted to correct for the sudden assault, but Rau wasn't letting up.

Of course the other escorts started to bring their guns to bear, hosing the surrounding space with a hailstorm of anti-air fire, streams of gold rippled through the black expanse, trying to converge upon the small white machine which danced around the storm, before it turned around and unleashed its fury upon the second escort ship. The undamaged Drake-class was soon struck by emerald beams from multiple directions, the beams ripping holes through the soft underbelly of the ship's hull and burning through sections of the bow, the ship suffered massive explosions, sending it reeling in a trail of explosions.

"Now's the time for a real battle!" Rau said cheerfully as he watched the ship he swatted drift away.

The Commander was gleeful in showing his prowess on the battlefield, but as much as he wanted to wipe it away, his aim wasn't just the Alliance ships, his aim was to wipe away his past with Mu and that cursed reminder of his origins, along with the Strike and Archangel. He knew that the Archangel would come to the aid of the crippled ship before it was sunk, and he also knew Mu was going to come.

His instincts kicked in as he dodged a linear blast which zipped right by the flank of his machine, but thanks to his spatial awareness and the newly improved Altair's abilities, he was able to move ahead and counter, unleashing a series of attacks. Altair's gun barrels were unleashing, wire guided funnels zipping around and unleashing emerald beams upon the Moebius Zero.

"What the hell?" Mu yelled as he narrowly avoided getting shot.

The lieutenant felt the familiar sensation of warnings, telling him of incoming danger, his mind raced at this possibility as he avoided more attacks before he determined the feeling, the constant nagging sensation as he felt when he fought his hated enemy.

"It's Creuset!" The mobile armour pilot exclaimed as he moved to dodge incoming fire from Rau's upgraded unit.

"What's that?" Murrue asked as the bridge recieved Mu's warning.

"Creuset's got a new suit, but its different, its armed with gun barrels with beam weapons!" Mu said as he narrowly avoided another beam strike.

The Eventide was moving in, making its way by the number of mobile suits and mobile armours still fighting. "Looks like a custom upgrade, damn it, I thought this bastard wouldn't start using shit like this till later." Ray said as he recalled the mobile suit from the manga.

He didn't realise that he said it on an open channel, but managed to mutter his comment, it still drew attention from Mirirallia who was listening in. "What?"

"Sorry, I meant that Rau's going all out, he wanted to wait for us to tire ourselves trying to break out of this trap and come in when he saw a chance of victory." He said as he turned to face the white CGUE Alistair.

He then called to the captain. "Look I'll deal with Rau, you guys regroup and try to press against the remaining ships if you can, otherwise, abandon the 'Montgomery' and get moving. Or we're going to get overwhelmed." He said as he knew that there was a good chance that Rau would sink the ship.

He knew that this was bad, his body was feeling sore, and from what he could tell, Rau was definitely using the improved CGUE Custom, this one was a real bitch to fight from what he recalled. The ZGMF-515 CGUE Alistair, it was a custom unit for Rau which could use gunabrrel upgrades. Modular wire guided gun pods mounted onto either side which had similar features to the Moebius Zero, none of the Alliance ships could defend agasint such attacks. Another annoying feature was the upgraded shield and weapon systems the Alistair would be using.

Ray fired off a series of beam attacks to chase the mobile suit back and then unleashed a series of attacks hoping to drive Rau off long enough for him to give the Archangel breathing space. But this was proving to be one hell of a challenge as he found himself being pressed by attacks from the remaining GINNs and worse yet, Rau's reinforcements, a trio of GINN HMTs armed with improved weapon loadouts.

"God damn..." He grunted as he avoided a burst of missiles fired in his direction.

"Ray!" Mu said as he attempted to relieve him.

"Stay back, keep the bastards off the ship, and make sure Kira stays clear, it's going to get a whole lot worse soon enough." He told the mobile armour pilot as he tanked another barrage.

He shook off the explosions from around him and cut across to the damaged Drake-classes where he then began to look for Rau again, he didn't need to look particularly hard as the bastard came around attacking the damaged ships, successfully destroying the Law, and sending it up in a brilliant fireball. Ray cussed as he was tossed around, his muscles ached from piloting for so long, and he knew that this wasn't over, not yet...

XXXXX

Rau enjoyed this feeling, this tribulation which had pained him for so long, he wanted it all gone, and soon it'd happen, after he wiped out the remaining survivors of the Alliance fleet and the surviving machines from the Archangel. But he was a little perturbed when he found that the new fighter wasn't willing to go down as easily, the Azure craft made his this battle all the more interesting for certain, but the pilot was giving him a hell of a run for his money.

The machine struck fast and hard, lashing out from the flank of the Alistair, managing to force him back with a series of beam shots, Rau lashed out with his beam funnels, the wire guided funnels let loose a short barrage from various angles in attempting to pin the unit down, Rau was careful to push it towards the effective range of his weapons.

"You won't be getting away so easily!" Rau said intent to down the Azure machine.

His shots went towards it, but he was astounded to see it pull off a quick turn manoeuver, which it then reicprocated with a series of beam attacks, the bright bluish beams almost cut through the Alistair's shoulder as it received a glancing strike. Thankfully he saw the attack just barely in time to avoid getting struck, he turned about and attempted to get clear as fast as possible, laying down fire as he did so.

"Commander, the Archangel is turning to meet our advance, it's covering the remaining Alliance vessel."

"Damn..." He muttered as he danced around with the Azure fighter.

It was then he devised the best strategy to deal with this problem. He contacted the two of the reckless fools in his team.  
"Yzak, Dearka, finish off the remaining Alliance ships." He ordered them promptly.

"Commander?" Yzak said perplexed, and no doubt angry. Having been denied so many times of victory.

"That's an order, once they lose them, they'll be denied further support, be quick about it before we lose momentum!" He ordered, the tense tone made it clear he wasn't tolerating any excuse of pride in this case.

The two G-weapons moved on without hesitation to execute the orders given by their commander, Creuset then turned his attention back to the Azure craft, smiling as he asked aloud.  
"Let's see what you decide." He grinned maliciously.

XXXXX

The 'Montgomery' was being circled by new GINN units which were playing hooky with their point defences. And the escorts were virtually destroyed at this point. This battle plan had only bought them a few minutes at most. But they were now being attacked from three directions, one to their 9 o'clock position, and another to their 6 and 4 o'clock positions.

This was the worst way things could turn out, and to emphasise the point, the remaining Drake-class was downed by a series of beam attacks courtesy of the Duel and Buster which had returned to the battlefield, Aegis and Blitz in tow. They were now throwing themselves all into this fight, and it was clear that they were about to get completely overwhelmed by the combined forces.

Compounding onto this little problem was the Nazca-classes ere now moving in fast, their window having been secured thanks to the Montgomery having been damaged by Rau's attack, the Archangel had to move in to cover the crippled vessel. But now they were in danger of being encircled and this time without anywhere to run, the Buster and Duel closed the distance, no doubt Creuset having given them their new directives, the two G-weapons were quick to blast through the defensive screen.

"Son of a bitch..." He grunted as he attempted to get around Rau's constant barrage, stonewalling him every time he attempted to get through.

Alice then chimmed. "The Montgomery will be likely sunk within the next minute or two if we fail to break free from this complication."

"I know!" He said aloud as he dodged another attack.

Ray spotted the attack and knew that there wasn't any time left, there was only one course of action, despite how much he hated the idea, he'd have to reveal the truth of the matter now. The choice was his.  
"We're out of time." He breathed. "Alice, Code: Zero Hour, begin primary neural sync." He ordered grimly as he prepared himself for the synchornisation.

"Understood, beginning process." Alice replied automatically.

"I never thought I'd use this fucking thing again." He said through gritted teeth as he felt his mind racing with a flood of information now pouring in from all around him.

The Eventide's sensors and receptors acted like his own, allowing him to feel as the machine felt in a way, his arms and legs twitched in increments, his back arched back and his head shuddered against the interface, but he felt it functioning. The sensation of data wasn't painful; it was like having your mind bathed in a body of cool mercury, the feeling of which can usually feel uncomfortable at first, before improvements were made it was like having your head dipped in a bucket of ice cold water. Your body freezes over and suddenly thaws, it feels like having frostbite, your nerves are stinging all over your body.

But he knew that this was only temporary, his body would hit the maximum limit and start to begin cooling off, as it was pushed to literally feverish levels of exhaustion as it burned through energy, not to mention exert a great deal of exhaustion on his body to function at its peak efficiency. But it didn't matter it only needed to last long enough for him to chase them all off, he then grasped the controls, leaning forward as the connection cables yanked at his body.

"Transformation sequence, let's give them a show." He smiled as he felt his mind flood with data feed.

The Eventide was able to get around Rau's attack before it suddenly began transforming, its arms reoriented themselves as its legs took shape, and the torso moved upwards allowing the head to appear and take shape, the arms detached the shield and beam Lancer, each embellishing each item firmly in their grasp. The last feature was the appearance of the Eventide's beam funnels which looked like wings behind it. The head glowed a sharp blue as it powered up, suddenly turning to the Alistair.

All around him, mobile suits stopped momentarily to take in what they had seen, most were quite surprised to suddenly find a new mobile suit appear from out of nowhere, while those on the Archangel stared in awe. Mu was honestly surprised, but kept his focus on chasing back the ZAFT machines, he couldn't help but whistle. And Kira, he and Athrun had stopped long enough to see this scene unfold.

Ray could see from within the Eventide, his eyes turned to the white mobile suit before him, he knew that the cat was out of the bag, and he had little reason to waste his time with Rau. He immediately gunned the accelerator. Eventide catapulted forwards, the engines trailing plasma exhaust as the suit rushed to meet the CGUE Alistair head on.

Ray lashed out fast, his beam Lancer came up faster than the Alistair could dodge and a stream of yellow golden light ripped through the space near the Alistair, glancing along the arm of the machine which had his rifle with it, Rau had thrown the weight of his machine's body around to avoid getting lanced. A subsequent explosion erupted from the damaged arm, not enough to cripple the suit, but more than enough for Rau to withdraw. Using the remaining funnels, the commander used the weapons to distract the Eventide, hopefully it'd force the machine to either deal with him or head off to save the remaining Alliance vessels.

The beam funnels circled around and tried to lance Ray's unit, emerald beams danced left and right, but Eventide moved faster than ever before, with Ray managing to pint point turns and twists using the various thrusters in conjunction to one another, he dodged one beam after the next and returned fire, managing to catch one as it circled behind the Eventide.

A small explosion erupted as the beam Lancer split the funnel open with a direct hit, the funnel seemed to compress as particles slammed it and melted it with enough force to destroy it. As the funnel was destroyed, Ray quickly turned his attention to the Montgomery which had taken a few more hits, the Buster and Duel were now closing in despite how much Mu tried to fend off the two machines while fighting the Blitz.

Buster lined up its shot while Duel covered it, destroying the remaining mobile armours which were desperately trying to defend the ship to the last. Ray didn't need to be prompted, he rushed forwards, calculating the best course of attack and approach, he grabbed the mega-shield with his left arm and detached it, switching it to absolute defence, he threw the shield out with his arm at high speeds, using momentum and the shield's self propulsion systems to carry it towards the Montgomery.

His shield reached out as the Buster fired, the sniper mode of the Buster would be powerful, but Ray knew the best counter. As the shield reached the starboard side of the ship, it was struck by the beam attack, and a great flash of light emerged. At first the suits in the area paused, thinking that they had struck a successful blow, but they were quick to realise the mistake.

The light faded as the shield stayed firmly where it was, the core field generated dispersed the beam impact with a field glowing brightly. The Duel and Buster had little time to attack again, as Ray came down on them hard, Lancer in hand, Ray fired...

XXXXX

On the bridge things had been intense, with the battle going ugly as possible outside, and the ZAFT ships closing in on them, they couldn't imagine how much worse it could have gotten until Flay had come with Lacus, the red haired girl was angry and desperate, demanding to have the captain relay a threat that Flay would kill Lacus if they didn't stop attacking.

However, it seemed fate had other plans for them, the Montgomery was seen being struck by the Buster, to which Flay recoiled in shock, but much to everyone's surprise, they learned of another secret, Ray's machine and apparently how in the hell it saved the Montgomery while keeping the rest of them from being wiped out.

"What the hell was that?" Natarle said in an almost disbelieving tone, trying to comprehend what was going on.

The battle had turned badly against them with the Montgomery on the verge of being sunk, and yet now things looked like they were going to win, with the battle having been turned around abruptly, there wasn't much they could understand from this scenario than Ray having transformed the Eventide into a mobile suit.

Murrue herself could only vividly imagine where the Eventide had come from, her suspicions on the machine weren't that considerable, but she was now alarmed to learn of this drastic development coming out from the left field. Whoever Ray was, clearly he had hidden far more than just simple information, regardless, she couldn't argue that this wasn't a welcome turn of events, as the Eventide dodged a wall of missile attacks from the Blitz.

The one here who had a lot more to be relieved though was Flay who looked a little shaken as Sai tried to console her.  
It was then that Natarle began to move, she knew that she hadn't much time, the lieutenant signaled the fleet.

XXXXX

Rau couldn't help but watch in horror as his plan fell into utter shit, the situation had turned around rapidly, with the new machine having cleaved off his arm and disabled one of his barrels with ease, he was lucky that he didn't die from fighting the damn thing, but he could feel it, the presence of something terrifying from within that machine. It unnerved him how casually it managed to tear its way through those GINNs and even deflect the combined attacks of the Duel and Buster, but here it was.

He took a moment to breathe deeply, his hands shaking with nerves frayed, his medication, in one hand, he took a dry swallow of the pills before he grasped the controls of his machine.  
"Fuck!" He cursed.

The battle looked as though things were getting ugly now that the transformed mobile suit began aiding in the counter attack and with the Versailles having been damaged, he could forget a victory, getting out of here alive was top priority.

'So close... so damn close.' He thought darkly as he watched the Azure machine engaging the G-weapons.

Blitz, Duel and Buster were all now throwing themselves into a pitched battle against the lone machine, all the while, the Strike and Aegis exchanged blows elsewhere.

XXXXX

Ray managed to disable the Blitz with a successful strike from the left flank, damaging its arm and blowing its missiles to shreds, forcing the suit to back off. Their battle was over, at least for now; the Blitz finally decided that it wasn't able to keep up the battle. Inside the Eventide, Ray was feeling the burn of operating his machine on the basic setting.

He had already expended multiple missile pods and he had managed to keep the energy levels at an acceptable level, but he knew that this was becoming way too much even for him to handle. The last drawn out battle of attrition using Eventide as his machine, the last one was during his test run for the free for all competition for the stadium.

Of course this was real battle in which every second counted, and every action had to be used carefully, one mistake could see him dead, or worse, someone else getting killed on his watch. Yeah this was definitely like his second tour in south East Asia. The difference was that he had to take care of a complete newbie who had an issue with killing people.

Thankfully Mu could help Kira out when necessary, but the kid's constant hesitation and personal turmoil was going to get him killed if he didn't adapt fast, then again his SEED abilities hadn't come into play yet. But this wasn't the only issue he was faced with, his body suffered from overheating, a troublesome development thanks to his augmentation.

He burnt up a great deal more energy than the average human due to his increased metabolism, even with sub dermal glucose deposits which allowed him to store more sugar in his body. It was clear that he would reach his maximum limit soon, and his body was feeling the burn of using his muscles continuously, a side effect of his augmentations.

It was a rather bad double edged sword, seeing as how his augmentations were capable of causing permanent nerve damage to his body. But they gave him and other operators an edge over most normal pilots; too bad most of them were either dead or retired now. Alice was keeping a monitor on his abilities and acting as his limiter, thanks to her, he was able to hold out longer than normal, as she could perform quite a few of the designated targeting solutions and complex pattern manoeuvres.

But this wasn't enough, his body needed Beta-C if it was going to operate for extended periods of time, and he knew that such things weren't available in this world, at least not to his knowledge. The bio-injectors would most certainly give him the ability to continue on for extended periods of time.

The trouble with this was that Beta-C was a form of protein which couldn't be produced outside of laboratories, and he knew that Alice might be able to produce some, but not near the amount he'd need for prolonged use. Mass conversion to fabrication in the Eventide was advanced, but things like that would take a great deal of time to properly produce.

As he pulled Eventide around the 'Montgomery' he did what he did best, intercept, cutting into the nearest GINN, he fired off trio of short bursts from his Lancer, they weren't nearly as powerful as the primary single beam setting, but it was enough to inflict damage, at least on most mobile suits. His shots made contact with armour or weapons, at this point it didn't matter, as long as he kept the bastards at bay, it was enough to stop them from downing the 'Montgomery.'

XXXXX

Meanwhile the Duel and Buster which had gone back onto the offensive after having been caught off guard by the sudden transformation of the fighter into a mobile suit, and the fact that it was hammering the living crap out of their forces.

"What the hell is this machine?" Yzak said as he examined the mobile suit.

"Don't know don't care, but it's got some pretty impressive firepower." Dearka remarked as he watched it push back another GINN.

The two were determined to get even, and Yzak had seen a chance to prove himself truly, plunging head first, the Duel went all in, guns blazing. But with Eventide, this was a lot more difficult, the suit downed two and disabled a third GINN before moving onto their G-weapons.

Duel and Buster were the ones that came up, and both pilots were determined to beat the Eventide down. But they had never fought Ray before, or ever fought the Delta Ex-Eventide. As they entered close range, Ray was able to swing around, slamming his Lancer to his left and forcing the Duel back.

Buster attempted to get around and cover Duel, but without much success, Eventide manoeuvred far too quickly to get a bead on it. Ray managed to graze the Buster's left arm and melt a joint in place, forcing it to pull back. This was when the Duel attempted to get around and slash at Ray from behind.

"I've got you now!" Yzak yelled as he came down hard.

Ray saw through the attack, knowing that Yzak wouldn't waste time to exploit an opportunity to try and take him down as quickly as possible. His attack came in a wide strike, intending to slash the Eventide horizontally. But Ray pulled his machine into a sharp turn and threw weight and thrusters to turn faster.

He dodged the attack and managed to slam the Duel in the chest with the Eventide's legs, sending the machine flying backwards. He unleashed another burst from his Lancer, and pulled off a strike to the Duel's exposed arm. With rifle in hand, he managed to land a blow on the Duel's exposed right sword arm, and blasted it into a pile of super-heated molten slag.

Duel's arm exploded in a burst of light as the beam sabre detonated along with the arm. Yzak knew that there was no way he'd be able to handle fighting it out any longer, withdrawing as fast as he could, all the while he gritted his teeth and cursed loudly. The pilot slammed his fist into the side display with enough force that his hand left a crack in the screen.

"Son of a bitch." He heaved as he got his damaged machine back to the waiting Nazca-class.

Dearka was now on his own, but he knew a losing battle when he saw one, and this was a lost battle. His energy reserves were low and he didn't have much more to throw against the blue and white winged demon of a mobile suit that was the 'Azure Hawk', it certainly didn't look like a hawk anymore.

He sighed and smiled with a frown.  
"Looks like we lose." He said as he pulled back. The Buster went off to join the Duel.

The remaining suits in the battle consisted of two GINNs and one GINN HMT operated by Sato, and finally the Aegis, which was still locked in battle with Kira. Rau's Nazca-class and the remaining Laurasia-class were all that were left, chasing the Archangel and the 'Montgomery'. Ray had managed to push the Laurasia-class back, as for the Nazca-class; it was certainly making every effort to keep the pressure on.

Mu's machine was bogged down trying to do crowd control, the Mobius had successfully damaged one of the GINNs, and kept the GINN HMT with assault shroud at bay, but Sato was not an easy opponent, and the veteran pilot was making every effort to pin the elite mobile armour pilot down. Ray decided to go in and help Mu before he was overwhelmed.

Eventide moved through the open space with ease, gliding through the open battle space with ease, Ray managed to zero in on his intended target, Sato's custom GINN HMT, he called over to Mu.  
"Mu, break off, this one's mine, you deal with the stragglers, keep the 'Montgomery' covered."

"Alright, but be careful, this guy's a lot better than those other GINN HMT pilots."

"I know." Ray said as he pulled his unit into a sharp turn and dive, making a clockwise corkscrew turn as he aimed for Sato.

Sato saw Ray's approach and immediately went in to welcome him, firing off bursts of linear shots attempting to down Ray's machine, without success. Ray retaliated with his Lancer and forced Sato onto the defensive, blocking the shot with his shield, almost melting the surface off while returning fire.

Ray had to admit, he was avoiding using the full power of his Lancer, because it would flat out kill Sato, a grazing impact even from his Lancer anywhere near the main body wouldn't do wonders for the pilot.

The continued to exchange fire, right up until Ray managed to slice off the arm, but Sato didn't give in, making a sharp turn and kick which Ray just dodged, the pilot fired sporadically at him, narrowly missing the Montgomery from a distance. Ray didn't want to risk losing the ship now after having forced the entire ZAFT fleet back, he lashed out quickly, stabbing forward and using his thrusters and momentum to carry him along, he cut through the GINN HMT's arm, disabling its weapon and leaving Sato to curse as he withdrew.

As one danger passed, Ray was alerted to another. "Ray, Kira's in trouble." Alice warned him.

Ray turned and saw Kira's unit getting pinned by the Aegis, the red machine having transformed into mobile armour mode and ready to fire. Ray was about to go running when the Archangel began broadcast.

"ZAFT forces, cease and desist, this is a formal warning, we have the daughter of Siegel Clyne aboard the ship, if you continue to pursue hostilities, we will not be held accountable for whatever may happen to her. I repeat, cease and desist."

'Damn, looks like they finally got to it.' He thought as he saw the ZAFT forces halt.

The ZAFT fleet signalled a retreat, flares went up declaring an end to hostilities, with the life of the Chairman in danger and their enemy now holding a new card, they were forced into a difficult situation.

As the survivors withdrew from the field, Ray sighed as he felt his neural connection timing out, his body's threshold having reached its limit, and not a moment too soon, seeing as he knew that he was pushing the limiter to a dangerous point by now.  
"Alice, guide us back in, my body won't be response for a few minutes." He told his AI as his muscles went numb.

"Understood Ray." The AI said as she took him back.

XXXXX

On the bridge Flay was looking at the display screen as the ships and mobile suits were withdrawn, she was being handled by Sai who had gotten up to stop her from doing something regretful. As for the Lieutenant, the raven haired officer looked around with a purposeful look. Murrue was still shocked that the Lieutenant would do something like this.

It was a desperate situation for certain, being stuck fighting multiple enemies from all sides is definitely not something you'd want to do when you're outnumbered and outgunned.

"Lieutenant, I hope you understand what you've done."

"Captain, I'm doing what I must to ensure the survival of this crew and this ship."

"This isn't what I can imagine when threatening the life of a civilian for safe passage."

"Ma'am, we're facing an enemy force many times our own size, and we're surrounded, I saw what had to be done, now whether or not it was right, it doesn't matter when our lives are on the line."

The bridge crew weren't sure how to take this, but with ZAFT withdrawing their forces, they were able to determine the next best course of action, assuming ZAFT weren't willing to forgo the warning and just wipe them out. But seeing as this was Siegel Clyne's daughter, they were going to play it safe no doubt.


	8. Chapter 7 - Recess

Chapter 7: Restitution…

XXXXX

 **Author's Note, 17/06** : To all my readers I'm sure why you're wondering why it took over a year to update. To this I shall say I've been hospitalised and unable to work, thanks to a gastrointestinal bleed which occurred due to overwork and stress, I wound up being stuck in hospital for a number of months, and thanks to that it's been time consuming.

And while I attempted to update in the past, writing while bed ridden isn't easy or fun, so I've had to contend with it, and now I'm here, just taking it easy and focusing on real life issues like work. Also my old computer crashed so I lost all the previous chapters, and I've had to literally rewrite from scratch.

Also family member just died at the start of this year so I had to go for a while.

 **Update 23/09** : I've got ongoing medical problems and it's not something that's going to go away. As for the updates, I've planned ahead as well as I could, but there's going to be a big fork in the coming events. And I'm not sure which route to take so I'm hesitant on updating until I know exactly where and how the story plays out.

As a side note, I'm updating all of the previous chapters due to poor grammar and a number of mistakes I left in the story, I rushed all of those chapters and made a lot of errors, guys please tell me if there are things missing or parts which have grammar errors so I can go back and fix them, please it'll save a lot of trouble if you tell me rather than have people confused as to what's going on!

I didn't even realise I made a lot of errors, also it turns out I didn't properly work on the right documents which had fixed grammar and worked on the old drafts which I then posted online, this is in regards to chapter 6, why no one mentioned this in the review section I have no idea.

 **^SO FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THINGS, PLEASE TELL ME AT ONCE!**

Also to note to whomever reads this, I do this in my spare time, as a hobby writer, not a full time writer, I will not always be able to correct for everything, sometimes quality drops or pacing slows. That's kind of the thing associated with fanfiction! We try our best, but it's not always there.

Updated chapters, Prologue, and chapter 1, chapter 8 will be updated maybe Friday or Saturday.

XXXXX

The Eventide made its return approach to the Archangel, its engines trailing plasma exhaust behind it. Its mobile suit form sporting its blue white and silver coloured frame gave a distinct appearance, that and its wings most certainly caught people's eyes for the symbolic imagery it precipitated after delivering them from the jaws of defeat.

Within the cockpit, Ray was recuperating from his fatigue; his neural receptors had been pushed, not beyond their capabilities, but more to the fact that he had used them after a prolonged engagement. He had worn himself down from using the neural interface in mobile suit form to the near end, when the situation had grown dire.

His body took the strain, and it left him exhausted, he knew that his body would need time to cool down and recover, hopefully no one notice how badly out of condition he was. Alice then called to him as he approached the starboard landing bay.  
"Touch down in 10." Alice informed him of his descent.

Ray acknowledged as he reached the bay, rubbing his arms and legs, he felt circulation returning, though he knew they'd feel like lead weights under water as he moved, he was thankful for the zero-g environment he was currently in. Eventide landed on the deck of the ship with a gradual touchdown, its feet securing to the floor easily, arresting the machine's momentum and allowing for a quick landing.

Ray had Alice take him in, and as he did, he received a call from the bridge.  
"Warrant Officer Rayleigh Hyung." Murrue greeted him with a stern expression and a similar tone.

"Captain Ramius." He said as he nodded in acknowledgement. "You're coming through loud and clear." He tried to layer on his passive tone to hide his fatigue.

"I believe it's time we have a proper discussion." Murrue stated in a tone which made it abundantly clear she wasn't asking.

"Of course, there's a lot I should explain." He nodded in affirmation politely.

"Then I expect you to come down to my quarters as soon as possible."

As the lined closed he sighed. "Looks like it's time to face the music." He said while rubbing his eyes, his head was pumping with blood; he felt his body shiver as his nervous system reassert itself, his nerves were frayed from overdriving his neuro-synaptic implants.

"Ray, are you going to be alright?" Alice inquired with a concerned tone.

He knew that the caretaker AI had been monitoring his health even if he didn't want her to, he made his reassurances. "I'll be fine; no doubt the Captain wants to hear my explanation for this cluster fuck." He said as he prepared to exit his machine.

"As you say Ray, though if I may interject."

"Go ahead." He said.

"The captain is likely going to demand answers; do you believe you can satisfy them?" She asked him promptly.

"No I doubt I could, and even then I wouldn't want to fully satisfy her with an absolutely answer."

"Why?"

"In order to maintain cover, we need an alibi, and questions aroused will no doubt result in the Captain reporting about this to Admiral Hal Berton and him getting into contact with someone at Alaska HQ. That's something I'd like to avoid until much later."

"Are these objectives something you believe worth fighting for?"

"It's something I feel needs to be done, what else can I do in the absence of a mission? Sit back and do nothing?" He asked her as he removed his harness.

He took his helmet off, and he stretched his arms and legs before he left his cockpit, he was greeted by the open hangar, the work crews moved about securing Eventide into its berth, some were doing quick inspections of the external outlay of the machine. But amidst the general bustle of the crews, they couldn't help but look upon his machine and ogle at it.

Most had never seen such a beautiful sight, or one which exuded a presence of power and awe as the Ex-Delta Eventide did. His unit was carefully constructed to exude a sense of power, it was geared to fight, and there was no denying that he prided himself in his creation, at what it was.

As he exited the cockpit, he was greeted by a rousing applause from the crew, they couldn't help but cheer for the man who had singlehandedly tossed ZAFTs entire force into disarray and dealt a crippling blow to Rau Le Creuset. His actions had no doubt ingrained him as some of ace pilot.

He knew this kind of praise, though from propaganda pieces and public venues which were held by the military. The difference here was that didn't need to smile as openly or need to address himself as someone else during those press releases. But he didn't care much for the attention given anyway.

"Damn fine work, pulled our asses clean out of the fire just in time." Murdoch said as he greeted him.

"Can't really say that little show I put on was what I had wanted, but you know, it's what I felt was the best course of action." He remarked with a hint of mirth in his tone. "Though I can't claim it was perfect."

He masked his true feelings well, making sure to give off the impression of modesty, in reality, he could have done something sooner, but he had been grasping onto the hope of a breakthrough rather than getting cornered. In the end, he had chosen the choice to unveil his strength and bring about a quick end even if this meant drawing a lot of unwanted attention.

As he headed to the captain's room on the level above, he noted the alert level had been dropped down. Meanwhile the 'Montgomery' was holding alongside the Archangel, mauled from the battle, but not quite dead, the crews of the other vessels had managed to board without much difficulty, but the ship was reporting to have some engine troubles.

It was uncertain how long repairs would take or if they'd need to take an alternate route, seeing as how they had the Foreign Minister aboard their ship and Lacus Clyne was on Archangel. This entire situation was unprecedented, at least for the crew, things were hectic still, but it seemed as though an uneasy calm had presided, at least until ZAFT started to go on the offensive again.

Ray knew that Rau wouldn't risk an attack just yet, not with Lacus aboard, it'd be a matter of time though, and there was also the matter concerning Kira and his friends. And he couldn't possibly forget Flay, who no doubt had been overjoyed with the news of her father's survival.

But this was a completely undetermined factor, seeing as how Flay's father was meant to die, he could have left things as they were, but he opted for this direction, mainly to see what potential outcome would follow. And this was also his way of aggravating Rau's plans for total annihilation of humanity; the survival of the Foreign Minister's would impact the Earth Alliance's policy.

Of course there was always to prospect of colossally fucking everything up beyond imagination, which could result in a worst case scenario. But that would have to be resulting in something really bad happening in the course of things. But he figured he might need another factor in this, Lacus's father, the rational moderate in the PLANT supreme council.

Of course this would make things even more unpredictable and to be logical, would a man like Clyne who had never heard or even spoken to him believe the claim that a seasoned officer of ZAFT is manipulating things behind the scenes? He couldn't follow such a lead unless he had solid evidence to prove this was the case.

'But maybe if I use Lacus…' He then paused to ponder.

He thought about how he could manipulate the girl to his side, the thought engrossed him as he thought of potential upsides and downsides of helping Clyne out on the PLANTs, he knew this was going to have to play a significant factor in the coming events. But if he played his cards right, Clyne might survive to oppose Zala as a government in exile movement or counter the plans which Rau was setting into motion.

Either that or ZAFT would be embroiled in a civil war, that scenario wasn't something he was looking forward to. But given how much Clyne could turn the situation around, ending Zala's power base and stopping the war getting worse might be a good idea, or at least give the opposition party under Lacus time to grow in strength against Zala's more militant faction.

The trouble was how Rau would use this to his advantage; this would require a level of political finesse to turn the situation around. But Rau was in the military, Zala wasn't exactly subtle in his approach so it might be too obvious if he attempted to make such a ploy the public would call him out on it and strengthen Clyne's position.

He felt his head ache from the effects of his implants, there were many contingencies to think about, and while he could gamble it and possibly lose out. But winning meant prolonging the war and stopping Rau's plans from advancing, and if he did this right then peace could be attained, or the war would change directions.

XXXXX

ZAFT battlegroup – Gamow

Meanwhile in the ZAFT warship, a certain group of red coat pilots were in the midst of recuperating as well as one could recuperate in a room with a self-conscious white haired hothead throwing a fit.

"SHIT!" An angered white haired pilot hissed as he slammed his helmet against a bulkhead, the red helmet rebounded across the room spinning aimlessly. "How the fuck did it end up like this?" He growled to no one in particular.

From the observation lounge, all of the G-weapon pilots were waiting patiently, including Ahtrun who had travelled to the ship to regroup with his teammates and wait for repairs to be completed on their machines. Things had been quite tense, and Athrun had to contemplate the delicate situation they were pitted with.

"Calm down Yzak." Nicol attempting to pacify the hot headed pilot.

"Calm down?" Yzak shot an angry glare to Nicol. "One mobile suit kicked the shit out us, and mauled most of our fleet in one go, and you're telling me to calm down?"

"Yzak, enough, we've got enough problems as it stands, and we don't need to add this to the list." A tired looking Athrun remarked as he rubbed his eyes.

"That's easy for you to say, you spent this cluster fuck in deadlock against the Strike." Yzak hissed as he levelled a glare at Athrun.

Athrun didn't bother looking back and replied. "The Strike's pilot is more persistent than I can afford, he's not going to just roll over Yzak." He responded, concealing the nature of what he felt.

The white haired pilot made a 'tsk' before flicking his attention away. Nicol gave a concerned look over to Athrun who turned away his attention, deciding to keep himself reserved for the time being, he had more pressing matters on his mind. Everything with this war was going to hell, his friend, ZAFT and now Lacus.

In reality Athrun was in turmoil and he was angry, about all of this, fighting Kira, having to choose between his friend and his duty to his people, then there was Lacus who was caught up in the middle of this. He was doing all he could but it felt like it was overwhelming him, the only one keeping perspective seemed to be the commander. It made him wonder how the man continued to push himself forward like this.

"Why are you so silent?" Yzak asked at Dearka.

"I don't think I can say anything, you're venting enough frustration for all of us." Dearka joked.

"Real funny." Yzak said with snark.

The mood settled somewhat as Yzak buzzed off to sit on the couch, crossing his legs and looking intently at the hangar from the window. Dearka seemed indifferent, though from Athrun's experience, Dearka had gotten off lightly compared to all of them, the Buster's pilot changed topics for them as he stared up at the ceiling.

"Man talk about shitty timing, that Azure Hawk punches one hell of a punch." Dearka sighed as he rolled his shoulder joints and yawned tiredly while gently floating off the wall. "Could have fried my ass, but decided to focus on everyone else."

"I never imagined a mobile suit being able to do what that machine did, this goes to show that the Alliance aren't push overs."

Their machines had all sustained damage, Yzak's wasn't too bad, but Duel's arm was going to need to be stripped down and replaced, at that moment repair teams had fashioned a replacement to supplement the melted arm of the machine. The white hastily processed arm structure which had been placed wasn't capable of using phase shift, and it'd be another day before they could manufacture the proper materials to fix it.

Dearka's unit was busy getting a stress test to see the extent of the structural damage inflicted on its armour, so far the unit looked worse for wear, his unit had expended every ounce of ordinance it had and battery was dead. So far the machine was getting a quick clean up and recharge, after which the engineers and techs reassured him his machine was in working order.

But amidst their survival the group couldn't help but contemplate circumstance, their battle hadn't gone as planned, everything had gone to utter hell when the Azure Hawk transformed and promptly beat them to hell in a collective ass kicking. Its abilities of transformation surpassed the abilities of the Aegis, but clearly more designed to perform as an atmospheric craft as well as a space borne fighter.

It proved that their enemies were more intelligent and resourceful than what credit they had given them, this new machine having deceived them until it revealed its true capabilities and promptly trashed their forces in a single battle; it was certainly an eye opener as to the machine's ability, but also the pilot.

Whoever was operating the machine knew fully well how to counter their abilities, having succeeded in pushing them back without breaking a sweat given how it managed to damage Commander Creuset's new machine with ease. It was a dilemma which had drawn a lot of attention, there were reports that Creuset and the senior officers had to complete a full report for Zala as soon as possible. Creuset took immense effort to emphasise the need for reinforcements, due to the risk of the Archangel reaching the 8th Fleet.

Regardless they had a hostage situation on their hands, and it would require a resolution and soon. And for Athrun he felt his gut wrenching from the thought of what they would have to do, he didn't know what to do, amidst all of this. Killing his friend for the sake of this war, and trying to bring back Lacus alive, it was eating him up inside.

He closed his eyes and thought about the dilemma he would face.

XXXXX

Ray floated down the corridor, casually running his hand across the walls as he was pulled along the corridor. After a short break to put some stuff away, Ray had finally gotten to the inner dormitory of the ship, the billets for the crew were carefully arranged, he didn't need to look far to find the captain's ready room, it was the only one marked with a sign outside and a small officer marking painted on the front, indicating the room for Captain Murrue.

Tapping on the room's chime to tell them that he arrived, he heard a response from the other side.  
"Come in."

He was greeted by Mu standing closest to the door, Natarle was seated on a couch next to the coffee table which Murrue had used on occasion, and the table was devoid of any coffee, but a selection of datapads and documents, after action reports which they were no doubt compiling for HQ later that evening.

The senior officers had been gathered in Murrue's private quarters to discuss their current circumstance, with Ray of course, seeing as how he had dropped the bombshell of a revelation right into their laps and had caused quite a scene on the battlefield. Mu had taken some time to join them as well since this was quite serious.

"Good to see you all here." He said as the door closed behind him.

Mu greeted him a curt nod and a 'hey', Natale continued to give him a sharp look of annoyance, or at least that was the impression he felt from the woman's gaze, since he had dealt with people like her more often than not. Murrue on the other hand was remaining professional in this sense, no doubt that the captain had to make more calls.

Ray saluted as he stood in front of the captain's desk, he then saluted.  
"I'm here as you requested, Captain."

"At ease Warrant Officer."

"So I'm guessing you've all got questions." He surmised without even bothering to look at the officers.

"No doubt." Mu reposed.

The captain shot him a disapproving look before she turned to Ray. "Warrant officer, why did you conceal this mobile suit from us?" Murrue asked him while levelling an intense gaze at him.

He locked eyes with her, he then gestured to the captain. "To put simply, all personnel outside of the development staff and selected pilots were on a need to know basis alone, regardless of circumstance, no one was supposed to know our program even existed. And trust me; those in charge of the operation made this almost absolute." He stated in a calm manner.

"That's something I can believe." Mu commented as he rolled his arm. "Given the level of development, it must have quite a lot of support behind the scenes."

"But the G-weapons project-." Natarle was about to begin before Ray cut her off.

"It sounds nice and all, but unfortunately those who oversaw the Eventide's development didn't think about applying it for mass production, the Ex-Delta Eventide is a prototype model experimental unit, it was meant as a special application unit." He said calmly while not even bothering to look in her direction.

He was using the most logical course of thinking to make his argument, in reality Blue Cosmos funded the most expensive and retardely oversized weapons of war for their own purpose which weren't meant to be mass produced. In any case at this point they wouldn't know this thankfully, and it made his argument pretty suitable for this sort of exposition, even if it was utter bullshit.

Mu then asked. "So what changed your mind to hide Eventide?"

He looked at Mu with a rather candid expression of mirth. "Simply speaking? There was little choice in hiding it, with your lives in danger, and the fact that I'd be pretty much on my own, told me more than enough to take the risk. Besides, being this close to allied help was more than an incentive, and I don't like just turning tail and running when help is needed."

He explained, trying to make a sound reason. "Call me sentimental, I've gotten fond of this ship, besides I owe you at least that much."

"You couldn't have bothered at least giving us a hint that you had a mobile suit?"

"I thought I did, given that I made it clear that my machine wasn't like any machine you know about, on top of that I never said my machine wasn't a mobile suit, I just never corrected you, and I just kept referring the machine as to my own." He was right, never had they actually asked if his machine was a mobile suit or not, if they had, he would have had to give them a straight answer.

"Well next time someone comes along with a mystery machine I'll ask them directly."

"So what is Eventide?" Murrue asked intently, she had made it clear that this was something she wanted answered.

He took a moment to walk over to the wall parallel to Murrue and facing the others, be pondered on his response before beginning. "Eventide is an experimental unit, clearly, a machine which can perform in space and on Earth, an all-rounder type with manoeuvrability, powerful and advanced weapons to add to her specialty role, if I had to make a guess."

"And how was this unit developed?" Murrue asked. "Surely it couldn't have been tied in with the G-weapons project or there'd be records."

Ray nodded acknowledging the issue of information. "Skirting around the whole confidential aspect of those who led the project? I'd assume it was based upon data retrieved from the Aegis, but then modified using data on some other project. The suit's overall aim and purpose is one which surpasses what would normally be suited for the G-weapons."

"That's not a lot to go on." Mu stated.

"Still feeling like that you can't reveal everything to us?" Murrue asked.

"To be perfectly honest, I wasn't privy to all the details only what the techs told me and what I don't say is meant to be kept between me and my handler, who made it clear that I must use discretion in what I say."

"So you can't or won't tell us more?" Murrue asked.

"Can't I'm afraid, the project planning behind the Eventide was a strictly need to know, what the project entailed is something you don't need to know in depth. My mission was to test the machine, ensure the safety of the project's secrets, and ensure that I retrieve the data and hand it over to my superiors in Alaska. It didn't mention providing support or revealing classified data to anyone else."

"Warrant officer. Is this a joke or are you intentionally trying to aggravate us?" Natarle inquired.

"No, I'm quite serious, I can't give a detailed answer, protocol states that I reveal bare minimum, well technically it said that I was to restrict most information to almost nothing." He said with a nonchalant shrug before cheerfully adding. "I'm giving you more than just 'strictly confidential' as a response, so be grateful I'm even telling you this much."

The senior most pilot then asked.  
"So seeing as we're all in the same boat, I'm assuming that you've got a reason to stick around?"

"I need to get to Alaskan HQ; no doubt you'll be heading there as well given the urgency."

"What's the reason we aren't going to Luna?"

"Because the entire ZAFT fleet would lie in the path between us and Luna, if you didn't recall, ZAFT knows about the existence of the Archangel, Strike and now my machine. Eventide's abilities surpass any of the other machines. That alone should send red flags from anyone who knows the tactical advantage my suit provides."

"It's true; I don't think ZAFT would be careless to ignore such a big threat now." Mu concurred. "The risk of Eventide becoming a potential threat is too great, even if they can't mass produce the machine, the technology in the machine would no doubt be able to turn the tide of the war."

"Is there anything else you think you should add?"

"I've revealed enough for you, and I don't think it'd be a safe idea to reveal any more."

The captain wasn't pleased with his response but she nodded, she could understand that there was a line he couldn't cross, at least she tried to understand. She had a nagging feeling he was holding back more, but she didn't press it, not today and not now.

"Do you require assistance in maintenance?"

"No, the Eventide's one machine which requires little maintenance, and if you recall, she's supposed to be top secret. Do not decide it upon yourselves to poke around, or the failsafe would trigger."

"Duly noted, warrant officer." Murrue said as she understood the weight of his statement.

"Good, now I do believe that the refugees were going to hold a small party down in the mess hall, and also I think we have a meeting with Mr Allster, correct?"

"He's planning on coming aboard within the next hour or so; he's recovering from a concussion."

"Oh good, that gives me a little time to prepare." Ray said as he rubbed his temples. "I don't need to remind you on protocol in regards to officials do I?" He asked them in a sardonic tone.

Murrue shot him a look, he reciprocated with a shrug and a gesture indicating that he was joking, in any case she knew what he was referring to, and having the Minister of Foreign Affairs on the ship was going to be rather impromptu despite being official.

"Now if you don't mind, I need a drink, and some rest before I go and meet with the minister. I should also speak with Kira; no doubt he's got plenty to think about right now." He said reminding them about the situation they had put the young teen into.

As he left the room, the trio of officers went on to process Ray's words.

XXXXX

Ray wasn't wrong about Kira, the young coordinator, having turned civilian to pilot in the last week and a half. He had yet to come to terms with his situation, no matter how much he resented the circumstances he had been thrown into by this uncaring world. He was pitted between his love for his friends and their protection in this bloodbath, his own life and that of Lacus.

But he was also torn about his old friend Athrun. 'Why are we fighting each other?' He balled his hands tightly as he continued to move forwards, his heart was numb, that cold feeling of regret or was it fear? He couldn't tell anymore.

But he knew it wasn't over, there was still more on the horizon, and his life was an ugly mess, one which he found himself getting dragged deeper and deeper into. His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of someone calling his name. "Kid, wait up."

Kira halted himself by the side of the corridor as he saw the suited Warrant Officer drift towards him. "Ray, I thought you were talking with the captain?" Kira asked as Ray came to a halt in front of him.

"We ended that meeting a little while ago. I was just on my way to get changed; we're having a guest coming over after all, Flay's father, the foreign minister of the Alliance. He said he wants to meet with me." Ray said with a relatively aloof tone. "He'll probably like to congratulate you as well."

Kira didn't entirely miss this, but he figured that it was more of a reason for Flay to meet her father than anything else. Though he suspected it might also be because of Ray's mobile suit.  
"Yeah." He said failing to hide his disheartened tone.

"Something the matter?" He asked the young man, as if he didn't already know.

Kira stuttered a bit as he composed a response, his uncertainty clear in his tone and his body language. "I-I don't understand why we're doing this."

"You mean Lacus being held hostage?" Ray guessed.

Kira didn't give him an acknowledgement, but he asked. "Why are we holding her as a hostage?" His tone denoted a sense of anger.

"Insurance that we aren't attacked by Creuset, seeing as how determined he was to try and kill us." Ray replied in a thoughtful fashion.

"But why drag her into this of all things?" He asked Ray heatedly.

The warrant officer didn't respond in any particularly hostile fashion, but he gave him aloof expression. "Survival, all our lives were on the line and so was the Foreign Minister's, with all the survivors from the advanced patrol fleet, seeing as the sheer beating we just took, it doesn't surprise me that things got to this." Ray stated calmly, he logically understood that this wasn't the captain's choice, but Flay's, considering she brought the young woman to the bridge.

'Natarle just user her as leverage since she had the opportunity, not that I blame her.' He thought to himself.

"You're fine with that?" Kira asked as he looked at him with furrowed brows and an angered expression.

Ray sighed, cooking up a logical justification of the decision. "Kid, shit happens, we're forced to make ugly decisions that we have to live with, as unpleasant as they might be, surviving long enough to complain about it is preferable than just dying. And more so considering our situation, I'm sure you wouldn't want everyone to get killed on the grounds that we wished to protect a single girl from getting involved in this." Ray told him passively, he knew that there was always shit like this happening during wars.

"But!" Kira attempted to protest but was cut off by Ray.

The older man looked at him calmly with his deep eyes staring at him; he was clear in his wording. "It's too late, she was involved in this mess the moment we took her aboard, how we acted afterwards is something we'll have to deal with on our own. For the most part, be grateful we're still here, we could be worse off." He said to Kira.

"This doesn't seem right."

Ray scoffed at the remark, not as a patronising act, but one which understood the controversy. "War is never right from my experience, why it's fought has been a thing of contention, something which I couldn't honestly care about any longer. Most give the general excuse of righteousness. But in my experience, those kinds of people are either deluded or ignorant of the sheer suffering war brings, but again, people continue regardless, so it says a lot about humanity." Ray stated.

"Is that what it is?" He asked clearly angered by the connotations of this conflict.

"In a non-philosophical sense, it gives us a definition of what war is, in any other case, it's pretty much as it sounds, a shedding of blood over matters which we believe are right, and not merely as an act of self-defence. There's a lot of shit that goes into it, and I'd rather not have to try and explain the whole 'Just War' ideology, but in my personal belief, it's pretty idiotic."

"So letting this continue on is pointless? Letting her get involved is pointless?"

"If you're done stuffing words into my mouth, I meant it as wars are started for reasons which either mean something to people, but at other times are just twisted to suit a narrative, despite our disagreements with it."

"And that makes it right?" He said hotly.

"No it most certainly doesn't, morally speaking. But practically speaking, yes, to take things into account such as an advantage is something you can't afford to ignore, in war, it's hardly fair, but it happens and I won't sugar coat it." He said promptly, he recalled his years fighting in the Philippines and the bitterness of it all.

Kira stood there uncertain of what he should be doing, but Ray already knew that he was going to do something about this, regardless of whatever the captain or the crew felt about it, principles aren't easily compromised and to do so wouldn't make then principles. The young man would need to know where he stood and what he stood for if he wanted to survive to the end of this war.

For Ray he knew this feeling, being uncertain in what your role was, whether or not it was worth fighting for and how it affected you and others. He stood by his principles with his brothers, believing in a general cause, and following it to the end, even after the amount of hardship that it would entail.

As Ray headed off he turned back and said to Kira.  
"If it's any consolation, you're not necessarily military kid, you do what you feel is right, no one's going to stop you. Just remember there are always consequences with action, and every action you take will leave an impact."

He knew how to plan a breakout within the ship, it was rather simple and easy, but there was the fallout afterwards, the Foreign Minister Allster was going to be trouble, especially now Ray had revealed his existence, and with Kira and Lacus now in the picture, things might take an interesting turn. In any event, there weren't many options left. Making the escape might be easier or harder for Kira; he knew that the Foreign Minister would throw a fit once he hears about it.

XXXXX

Down in the mess hall, the kids and their fellow crewmen were busy taking time to relax, though they were on alert status orange, they needed time to rest, their battle with Rau's battlegroup was a gruelling nightmare which had almost seen them all killed. If it wasn't for Ray, they might have been overwhelmed in the initial attack, but now they were all here, relatively safe and sound.

"Is it just me or does Flay seem a lot more cheery now?" Kuzzey asked aloud, clearly noticing the difference in attitude of the young woman.

"Probably thanks to her father, Ray did save him after all." Miriallia noted promptly.

Tolle who had been nursing a cup of water looked around before asking. "That reminds me, where is the Warrant Officer?"

"Probably meeting with the captain, given how things turned out." Sai said.

"Who could have imagined that the Eventide was a mobile suit?" Kuzzey remarked as he rolled his head back with his hands behind his head.

"Well I had my suspicions." Tolle remarked smirking.

"Oh come off it, you thought the same as us." Sai said in response.

As if to answer his question, Ray showed. "Hey there boys and girls, how's my favourite gang of misfits?" He asked startling the group.

"Ray!" Kuzzy said in surprise.

"We were just talking about you." Sai said as he sat down with the group.

"Yeah I know. I was standing a few feet away." He said casually as he looked at some of them pass a few awkward glances between each other.

They knew that speaking about someone behind their back wasn't a usually polite thing to do, but now that he was there, they welcomed him to join in. As he sat down across from Kuzzy, Tolle shot off the first question to jump topics and out of the awkward silence.

"Your fighter was a mobile suit this whole time and you managed to keep it hidden?" The young curly haired boy asked eagerly.

"Of course, it was part of my mission to keep it hidden revealing it now wasn't an easy choice, seeing as how important keeping secrecy was. But thanks to circumstance, I saw little choice but to help." He said justifying his response, though he knew that he would have done so regardless.

"You managed to blast your way through so many mobile suits, it's amazing you survived that long against those odds." Sai remarked.

"Yeah, the Eventide's awesome, why didn't you let loose sooner?" Kuzzey asked.

"Timing and also because I didn't want ZAFT to prioritise me as a bigger threat." Ray explained to them.

"Wouldn't that have happened anyway? I mean ZAFT was pretty much throwing everything they had in our direction." Tolle observed.

"That was more coincidence if I had to say."

"But would they have thrown nearly as much at us if you used your mobile suit more openly?" Sai asked.

Ray shook his head as he gave his assessment on the situation. "From a logical speaking point, if the Eventide was just an advanced fighter with no capacity for use on the ground or for major engagements against heavy concentrations of mobile suits, would you prioritise it as a threat or the Strike?"

"You were keeping low to avoid drawing ZAFT into going after you?" Tolle said perplexed.

"Pretty much, but seeing as how we've managed to defeat them. Time and again, they still threw a lot at us. Now that I've revealed the Eventide for what it's worth it's going to get more hectic." He said nonchalantly with a shrug before taking a sip from the cup.

Sai quickly determined what he meant. "They'll try harder to destroy the ship now." The blonde boy said as he contemplated the implications.

"Bingo, the biggest threat was Strike, for the most part; the Archangel's powerful, but can't be easily mass produced or launched against the ZAFT forces on the scale mobile suits can. Strike can, at least in a hypothetical scenario; the number of mobile suits G-weapons project produced made it potentially possible for mass production." Ray explained.

"It's got ZAFT worried about the potential it has in changing the war. Eventide on the other hand is a real game changer, if you understand it, being capable of operating as a fighter craft in space and atmosphere, and being a transformable mobile suit with more powerful equipment than Strike." He added before he continued.

"They'd be willing to throw that much against a single ship?" Tolle said alarmed about the potential prospect of getting into such a disastrous battle.

Their last battle had seen them almost kick the proverbial bucket, the fact that ZAFT threw a small fleet of ships at them was nothing to laugh about, and the scale of destruction the kids had witnessed was already disconcerting. Three ships blown apart, and the Archangel was almost overwhelmed from the battle, it was disturbing to image how much worse it could get.

"You can bet your ass on that, one threat is bad, and two is more than enough for them to gamble an entire force to try and wipe us out." Ray said as he yawned tiredly.

The thought of ZAFT mounting a massive force to try and kill them all was most certainly an alarming thought, the last few days had been tense, and it didn't help how they almost got overwhelmed by ZAFT just a few hours ago. Ray took a moment to notice the group of kids were staring absently at him with rather dire expressions; he then tried lightening the mood.

"Look on the bright side though, I'm here, and Kira's here, the officers on the Archangel know what they're doing, it's not like we're worse off. In any event we'll be reaching the 8th Fleet, it'll be time to make a decision then, and I'll be sticking around for a while longer. You kids best think about what's going to come."

"Thanks Ray, but I dunno there's so much going on." Sai said.

"That's the unpredictability of war; sometimes even the smallest thing could change your luck." He said before leaving to grab some water.

XXXXX

Back with the ZAFT fleet, Rau had returned back to the Gamow, and in a less than pleased mood, the last day had been a brutal rush, one which had cost valuable manpower and time, and resources. The fleet had been almost depleted of strength, with virtually the entire fleet's resources of mobile suits having been exhausted, their ships now damaged in one way shape or form, and his Altair having been crippled.

'So much for the brilliance of our engineering.' Rau inwardly grumbled as he looked upon the damaged experimental unit.

His machine looked worse for wear, numerous burn marks scarred the surface, the missing arm and damaged leg reduced to a blackened stub, his wire guided beam barrels had been damaged with the left funnel missing. It was frustrating to know that his plans for a quick and decisive victory had been utterly thrown out the window with a costly loss of half the strength of a battle group.

No doubt ZAFT Central Command would demand his recall and investigate into the sudden loss of so many machines, the only good news was that he found Lacus Clyne, which was hardly a consolation prize, given that it was well within the realm of possibility that they'd end up losing the daughter of Clyne to the Alliance. However it wasn't like he cared for the young woman, but a great deal of the blame would no doubt be shifted to him, given that this was his operation and his responsibility.

The more troublesome issue though was that the new machine had proven full of surprises, more than he would have liked, it's pilot had impeccable sense of timing, revealing his full capabilities during the final moments of the battle, catching him off guard and utterly wiping the remaining strength of his forces.

It might have been possible to win out, but doing so would probably have resulted in the loss of virtually the entire fleet, and not to mention he would have died in the process. It wasn't like it mattered any longer though, what had been done was done, and now he was faced with a deadlock, one which was giving him a headache.

There was no doubt that they would have to act soon, either risk losing Lacus Clyne to the Alliance and facing political hostage crisis, which was a real possibility given the situation. But he knew that there were a few ways that they could try to coerce the Archangel into giving Lacus back, not easy ones, and he'd probably get into more than hot water if such things became public.

It might work, of course he'd need the support of the other officers to make it happen, Athrun would no doubt object, but the young man was already torn between his feelings for his friend and his fiancé, not to mention his duties to the PLANTs. There was a way to manipulate him, but his emotional duress might cause him to snap back at Rau, depending on how this was handled.

'My, my, isn't this so dramatic?' Rau thought to himself mockingly.

"Commander." The dark navy haired man said as he entered the room and saluted.

"Ah yes, Lieutenant Athrun, I heard you wished to speak with me?"

"That I was sir."

"I can assume that this is about the life of the Chairman's daughter?"

"I know that this is difficult, but there must be a way which we can convince the Alliance to release her, isn't there?"

"Not in a realistic sense, but if I had to guess, the only way would be offering them a valuable prisoner of our own to be exchanged, something we're a little short on right now."

"But then."

"The only other way is to force their hand, if I had to guess, we could forcibly try to take the ship, though what would happen in the course of that would be very uncertain. In any case, either we take her back or she dies in the process."

"Commander, that's-." Athrun was about to protest.

"Either we lose her to the enemy, or we risk saving her, a high stakes operation regardless. Either way we have no room for negotiating, and we would be faced with a major problem for the PLANTs future. Something I'm certain that the Chairman would wish to avoid. It might cost him more than his career if he opted to negotiate with the Earth Alliance for her life." He made his case clear.

Athrun wasn't pleased with such a response and looked at Rau with serious expression.  
"Sir, what you're speaking of, disregarding the life of the chairman's daughter."

"I'm sorry if it sounds like speaking disrespectfully, I'm just saying this from the angle of the PLANTs, and it isn't practical to risk the safety and security of the PLANTs and its citizens by conceding to demands is it?" He replied as he reasoned aloud, he knew that the other officers in the battered fleet wouldn't approve of his disregard of Clyne's daughter.

His concerns were masked by the fact that he knew the implications of what might happen if Lacus was killed, but it'd cost him his reputation and whatever clout he had in the politics of the PLANTs, something which he couldn't afford. Even if he was justified, he would likely shoulder the blame for not acting faster in his search for Clyne's daughter.

Even with Zala's support, he needed the public's backing to make any lasting impact, sabotaging himself and Zala would screw their chances of pushing his plans ahead, and making his dream of mutually assured destruction reality. He would need to tread carefully, find out how to get an edge up on the crew of the Archangel, but he thought about it.

From what Athrun revealed to him in his past reports on Kira Yamato, he figured that his situation was difficult to comprehend, being thrust into war and fighting his old friend, not to mention the hostage situation. He was naïve and malleable, something which he could use later on if he ever go to it.

XXXXX

Ray had gone down to meet with the Foreign Minister, he thought he'd speak with him and Kira, but Kira was elsewhere at the moment. Apparently he'd see the man later, but for now Ray wanted to know about Flay's father, and if possible gain a better understanding of the man who had advocated for subjugation of the PLANTs.

Allster was as he appeared in the revamp version of the SEED Light Novels, albeit with slightly less hair and a side combed hairstyle. He saluted the man before he gave them a welcome greeting. "Warrant Officer Rayleigh, it's an honour to finally meet you at last."

"Foreign Minister, sir." Ray said promptly and professionally betraying nothing about his inner feelings.

"Please no need for such formalities, I have you to thank for saving me and protecting my daughter aboard this ship." The man said to them as he gave the impression he was grateful.

"No need for thanks sir, I was merely doing what was necessary, proper thanks should be given to all those who serve aboard this ship."

"Humble as well I see." George stated.

"I'd expect you to meet with Mr Yamato later?"

"Oh of course, I sent Flay to fetch him for me, I wanted to speak with you first in person."

"Oh, I'm guessing this is about the involvement of the G-weapons project? If you're wondering, then no, Eventide is not associated with the G-weapons project, and even then indirectly."

"So I figured, I thought the project encompassed only our weapons development in Atlantic Federation."

"Unfortunately there are other interests Mister Allster, I don't know about you, but even within your inner circle of affiliates, there are things which are absolutely on a need to know basis."

"You know of my affiliates?"

"Yes, in a way, they've done well covering their tracks, but as a member of the Special Forces and the Intelligence community, I stick my nose where it doesn't belong."

"Then I'd reiterate, why wasn't I informed of Eventide?"

"You should ask your friends in Alaska, and the Inner Circle, they'd give you an answer. But I figure they're too busy playing politics to care. I'd have imagined you'd still be there if it wasn't for you daughter."

His statement had perturbed the Foreign Minister, more so in the sense that Allster was being kept in the dark about ongoing projects within Blue Cosmos. It was true in reality the members of Blue Cosmos had kept certain things secret even amongst them, Ray played this against the Foreign Minister.

It would no doubt piss him off that he was being kept in the dark, but also allow Ray to manipulate the man, but there was a measure of risk, Allster could catch on to Ray's manipulation. Though Ray knew how to play it in his favour.

"To be perfectly honest, I can guarantee you something."

"What?"

"Your membership into the Inner Circle, since they've got bigger plans envisioned, I could seat you closer."

"I'm assuming you want something in exchange?"

"You have contacts in the Alliance; I know your ties to Blue Cosmos, not a surprise since you were the most hawkish advocate for persecuting war against the PLANTs. The Alliance military command supporting Blue Cosmos is doing something, and I'd like to know why, something regarding 'Contingency Plan Washout', you might not know about it, but I'd like for you to look into it."

"Why would you be interested in the actions of the high command at Alaska?"

"I'm not privy to every piece of information the Alliance has, but I know you have the connections. As much as those in the Inner Circle like to keep things quiet, whatever Washout is, it's big enough to dedicate an entire division of engineers and specialists."

"And how would you guarantee me an entry into the Inner Circle?"

"Take this, it has the data on the human OS system, a complete copy I stole from Morgenrote before it was destroyed, my objective wasn't just securing my machine, but also conducting espionage for the Alliance. I have also stored data on some interesting developments regarding anti-beam and advanced kinetic armour technologies under development, ones which don't rely on Phase Shift."

"Is that so?" He said looking at the data card.

"I know the Alliance mobile suit program is underway, and you'll be heading to Earth, with your daughter. The Inner Circle would like to get something beneficial in their inventory, so I'll let you give them this in exchange."

"And I look into Washout for you?"

"That's all I ask."

Allster was an opportunist, he knew that he wasn't in the Inner Circle, and their members would look favourably in learning more about MS development. If he gave this in, he'd secure more power and get a better position for his family and himself, there were risks, but he'd been sidelined since the war began. At least from the side stories regarding him, he was kind of a sleaze bag in this regard, but he loved his family, Allster sees this as a means of guaranteeing his family's future.

"Very well, I'll take you up on this offer." Allster said giving him his hand.

They parted ways, with Ray heading back to his billet; he passed Kira who was being taken by Flay to meet her father. Ray passed him a nod, and some words of wisdom.  
"Play your hands carefully, kid, you'll make her happy."

XXXXX

Kira's meeting with Flay's father was largely uneventful, though he had the sneaking suspicion that her father didn't really like him as much. He tried to be respectful about it, George Allster did his best in kind to respect Flay's attachment to Kira, though he voiced his praise for Kira, he was hesitant.

In the end they discussed a few matters before, Kira had to get going, Flay made mentions about her father planning on taking her to Earth. Kira was a little uncertain of what to say, Flay wanted to stay on the ship with the others, but her father insisted on taking her to Earth, Kira was left at a loss for words.

After that meeting, he was left uncertain about how he felt, he wanted Flay to stay, but he was left brooding on the decision. He figured he'd speak to Sai about it, and Sai had been also uncertain about what to say, he figured she'd be safe on Earth, and Kira agreed. Sai added that he felt like going after her, but he also didn't want to abandon everyone on Archangel and was staying.

And so, Kira made his choice…

That night, Kira made his move, he knew what he wanted, more than anything else, he wouldn't let Lacus stay on the ship nor would he allow the Minister to do with her as he or those men at Alliance HQ wanted. He snuck around; there was only 1 guard by the door, assigned by the Captain after the recent fiasco.

He would see to it that she was returned. He approached the room, out stood one of the regular guards posted after the debacle from the day before.  
"Hey, what are you doing here?"

"I came to visit Ms Lacus and I brought you some water from the canteen; the lieutenant said your rotation won't change in another hour."

"Oh what?" The guard said frustrated.

"I'm just passing on a message, can I go in?"

"Alright." The guard said tiredly, the man knew Kira was allowed access to Lacus.

"Lacus."

"Huh, Mr Yamato?" Lacus said perplexed at his sudden appearance in her room at night.

"We need to get going now; we don't have a lot of time before someone finds out what I'm planning on doing." He said urging her.

They exited the room about 30 minutes later to find the guard unconscious; having dozed off from some sleeping pills he slipped into the man's bottle, he'd have to apologise to the doctor for using the medicine in the cabinet but he had no other choice. He stuffed the unconscious guard into the room before they exited; there wouldn't be a rotation change for another half an hour.

He also informed the guard that the other would leave his spot early for a bathroom break, so they wouldn't bother checking Lacus' room for a while. It'd be enough time for him to escape through the hangar bay, and so he took Lacus through the ship, it didn't take long before he ran into an obstacle.

"Hey kid. Taking little miss special out for an impromptu rendezvous on the observation deck?" Ray said greeting him.

"Ray."

"I know what this is kid, don't think I won't understand." He smirked. "I've gone and done things which I'm not proud of either, and I have done things which I has gotten me into a more shit in the past, don't think it hasn't."

"Will you let us go?"

"Of course, I have no reason to stay in your way, if this is your choice then take it. But before you go." Ray pulled up a duffle bag from behind him and tossed it over to Kira. "Take this."

"What is it?" He asked.

"A space suit, I got her measurements down. Make sure to put Lacus' clothes into the bag after she's changed, I'll prepare an exit for you."

"Why are you doing this for us?"

"Simply putting it? I have no love for being a hostage taker, and I have no issue with letting the lady go." Ray said nonchalantly. "But I just want a word with Miss Clyne before she leaves."

"What is it that you'd like to speak with me?"

"Take this and put it into your Haro." He said giving her a small chip. "This is hopefully something which will help you in times of struggle; it contains a certain amount of information regarding the state of the Earth Alliance and ZAFT. I entrust this data for you to give to your father, under no circumstance should you give this to anyone or mention this to anyone else." He said seriously. "It may endanger your life if someone figures out what this is."

"I understand."

"Good, take care, I'll be listening to the next song you'll sing."

"Hopefully it shall be one of peace."

"I look forward to it." He told her before he turned back to Kira. "Let's go."

XXXXX

"Kira's under a lot of pressure isn't he?" Sai said as he walked alongside Miriallia.

"No kidding, after everything that he's gone through."

"At least Ray's here to help us out, I can't imagine how Kira must have felt without having Ray around to provide help. Now with that mobile suit of his."

"Still I feel bad for him, there's a lot going on and it feels like it's only getting worse."

"Think he's having regrets?" Sai asked.

"Maybe, Flay's leaving and it's gotten him a little down."

"I know I wanted to go with Flay. But I'm reminded about everyone on the ship, if I left with Flay, I'd be turning my back on everyone else, including Kira. It might seem selfish, but I wanted to go."

It was just then Ray and Kira exited the locker room with Lacus in tow, they turned the corner to run directly into the others.

"Kira!" Miriallia said in surprise.

"Warrant Officer Ray?"

"What are you doing here?"

"We should be asking you that." Ray said as he looked at the two.

"We were going down to our billets." Miriallia replied.

"We'll I was helping Kira by ignoring any responsibilities in letting him escape with Ms Clyne here."

"Seriously?" Sai said perplexed.

"Well, it's exactly what it looks like." Ray stated promptly.

Kira looked at him with a perplexed expression before he turned back and nodded. "Yeah, I was actually trying to get Lacus off the ship."

"You're making a break from the ship?"

"No, Kira is, I'm just letting him escape." Ray stated as he brought up a data pad. "I figured since Kira was so determined to settle this, I'd give him the chance to settle it, not matter what consequences followed. That's his responsibility."

"I have to do this, if only for myself." He said to them.

"Kira-." Sai said before Ray cut him off.

"I'll be going on ahead; you kids make up your minds, but remember Kira's made his choice." Ray said leaving Kira to his friends.

Kira faced with Said and Miriallia.  
"Look I need to do this; I can't sit back and let her be used like this."

"But you'll be court-martialled."

"I know, but I need to do this, don't stop me."

"You'll come back right? For us and Flay?"

"I'll come back." He said adamantly. "For my friends I'll come back."

XXXXX

Ray's access to the ship's internal security system enabled him the chance to monitor any action aboard the ship effectively.

Of course this raised an even bigger question as to how in the hell the ship's crew didn't have a security station or system to monitor any illegal entry or access by others on the ship, or capable of being operated in the event of an enemy boarding the ship. Ray figured that this was budget cuts, oversight, or some retarded short coming written off by some of the storyboard writers.

He'd have to deal with the issue much later, but right now, he was already setting the stage for an encounter in space, one which he knew that he'd have to deal with, one way or another. He also knew that Rau wasn't going to come out, not without a proper mobile suit ready for action. So his chance of an exchange with the man wasn't there.

"Do you believe that following this course of action is for the best?" ALICE asked him as he arrived at the Eventide.

"George Allster is going to give me evidence as to Blue Cosmos' actions, he might not realise it, but Blue Cosmos has no intention of just letting anything get in their way. They'll sacrifice each other in their dog eat dog system, Allster needs to see this, the lives they'd sacrifice, even his daughter's for their own ambitions."

"For Lacus, convincing her father and allowing him time to recuperate political clout, he might be able to hit back and stall any move by Zala, and it'll also throw a wrench into Rau's plans for the immediate future." He replied while beginning start up.

"If you believe this is the most prudent course of action, but I'd ask you, what happens if it fails?"

"Then worse things will follow, Civil War, possibly Rau trying to isolate and eliminate me as soon as possible. The chances are high he'll be gunning for me soon."

"And the Alliance?"

"A scandal, a major one at that, they'll try covering it up. If Allster gets the information to me sooner, then I can use his name to give to the Eurasian Alliance, give them leverage against the Federation and cause a political split."

"These probable risks posed are still high, there are many unknown variables."

"Yeah well isn't that life?"

"I'd say it's more your manipulation and involvement in the chain of events."

"Ouch." He said.

Alice then reported in. "I've achieved total control of shipboard systems, rerouting controls for linear catapult and airlock. Kira's friends are seeing him off."

"Good, send a message to Mu, tell him that the kid is leaving the ship." Ray said as he secured the latch on his helmet.

He felt the HUD in his helmet come to life, the BIOS flashed as gridlines appeared, within moments he received a full display of his vital functions and systematic updates on the operating status of his machine. Eventide was charging her main drive, and Alice was preparing for a take-off as soon as he got down to the hangar.

Kira having gotten into the Strike was moving the mobile suit to the launch bay, crewmen began to scramble around trying to determine what was going on, unfortunately for them, raising the alarm wasn't an option at this moment, despite their best efforts, and this was outside of their ability to deal with.

He knew Murrue and the others would be getting up soon, this will be going very loud.

XXXXX

Murrue hurried down the corridor as the alarms blared; she drifted as fast as she could to reach the elevators to get to the bridge. After a stressful day compiling a report to HQ and coming to terms with some alarming revelations, she had figured she would be able to get some rest in before the ZAFT forces decided to launch an attack, she and many others had likely felt tired from fighting an entire fleet of ZAFT ships and surviving.

She had been just getting into bed when the alarms began ringing and she received a call from the bridge, she had to hurry back half-dressed and looking all the more frazzled at the sudden turn of events. She entered the elevator for Mu to join her, in a similar state, but with the distinct smell of coffee coming from him.

"Lieutenant what's going on?" Murrue asked Mu.

The blonde haired man shrugged. "I'm not sure; I just received a message that the kid was leaving the ship."

"Ditto." She said as they felt the elevator begin to accelerate.

It wasn't long before they were on the bridge, Natarle had been out for a short period to relieve herself and it left Romero in charge to oversee the shift.

"Romero what's going on?" She asked as she greeted the man.

"Ma'am, the Strike has left the ship." The operator reported.

"Oh boy, let me guess, he has the girl with him?" Mu said.

"I believe so Lieutenant."

"Well I better get down there." Mu replied excusing himself from the bridge.

"Romero can you get the Strike on coms?" Murrue asked.

"He's ignoring our messages."

"Captain, let the kid go, he needs to do this." Ray stated over the intercom.

"Ray, where are you?" Murrue asked.

"In the hangar bay, I've got Eventide ready to launch, I'll be following up behind the kid if something goes wrong."

"Did you know about this?"

"I suspected as much, I didn't bother voicing my concern since I told him it was his choice. I couldn't stop him even if I wanted to, and I wouldn't want to do it anyway, kid needs something to believe in." Ray stated. "So let him believe."

"This is rather unexpected Warrant Officer."

"I've done stupider things in my past, and trust me, this isn't anything new. At least for Kira's sake, let him go on with this. He needs this, if only to reconcile with himself." Ray said seriously.

Murrue could tell that Ray knew what Kira was thinking, and she couldn't help but agree; Kira needed something to hold on to, that he wasn't just spilling blood.

XXXXX

The Versailles and Gamow held themselves at a safe distance, having allowed the rest of the fleet to back off and regroup and recover, no doubt getting rearmed and restocked with new machines for them to use against the Archangel and the 8th fleet. So far the situation had remained relatively similar, no one dared to risk engaging, with the life of the Chairman's daughter in the firing line, it was a dangerous proposition to consider.

At least until they were faced with no other choice but to try, the captain of the Archangel knew that she was bluffing, but if ZAFT attempted to seize the ship, it wouldn't have mattered at that point. And now there was something strange going on, the Gamow taking point with the damaged Versailles holding behind, the Gamow noticed activity.

"What's going on?" Rau asked.

"It seems as though the Legged ship has launched the Strike."

"On its own?"

"Get our patrols to intercept."

"No, wait, there's something going on here." Rau stated as he looked at the display.

"Captain we're receiving a message, text only, it's from the Strike."

"Read it." He said.

"The Strike's pilot has Lacus Clyne aboard, and is willing to return her, if it meets with the Aegis and its pilot, Athrun Zala."

"Commander, please let me go and see what he wants." Athrun said.

Rau looked at Athrun and then nodded. "Very well, you're permitted, get going and make sure to come back."

As Athrun left, Rau signalled to the captain. "Get Yzak's unit ready to launch, tell him he'd be providing additional support to Athrun, my machine won't be of much use right now, and most of the other G-weapons still need time to complete maintenance."

"Understood Commander."

XXXXX

The exchange went about as well as one could expect, with the Aegis making its approach clear, the Strike stopped within a short distance, waiting while Aegis drifted close. Athrun and Kira both opened their cockpits before Lacus was able to transfer over to the Aegis, as they confirmed the transfer Kira and Athrun exchanged words.

Pulling back, Yzak acted to take his chance in attacking the Strike, using the momentary break to close distance from the side of the Strike. Kira had enough time to react before the Duel closed in weapons range.

"I have you now Strike!" Yzak yelled as he attempted to get in close.

"Kid, duck down." Ray ordered to Kira.

Kira ducked around before the beam could connect with him, Ray managed to get in close, in mobile suit form he proceeded to counter the attack, be sent Yzak rolling out of the way and followed up and kicked his unit from the waist. Duel was sent reeling back before Yzak regained momentum, he struck across the Duel and sent it outwards.

Ray came in and countered Yzak, deadlocking the hot headed pilot, Ray sent a kick into the unit's chest and sent Yzak reeling before he locked the Duel into a position with his shield. The man had his beam lancer to the cockpit of the Duel, while the Duel hadn't even drawn its beam rifle. Their momentary brawl was interrupted by an open channel.

"ZAFT and Alliance pilots, stop this at once."

"As you wish Ms Clyne." Ray stated before he let the Duel out of his weapon's range.

"Damn it." Yzak gruellingly had to accept failing to destroy the Strike again and the Eventide which had elude him so much.

It wasn't long before they were all pulling away from each other, Ray eying the Gamow knowing that Rau was within his weapons range. He put his middle finger up at the Gamow before departing, even if he couldn't kill the man, he could take the prick's ego down.

"Come on Kid, I'm sure everyone's waiting for us."

XXXXX

The exchange had gone off without much of a hitch, the young daughter of Siegel Clyne was now in their custody, and they were heading back to meet with friendly forces of the 3rd ZAFT expeditionary fleet. Rau's encounter with Eventide was not what he imagined, and that instance of having someone flip him the bird using a mobile suit was new, and very much annoying.

While he was waiting, he had gone off to speak with Ms Clyne, who he had learnt she had been with the pilot of the Eventide, Rau had gone and spoken with the girl, and much to his surprise, he had learnt the name of the new pilot, Rayleigh Hyung. By the description given by the girl, Ray was rather unique, being described as an older man than the pilot of the Strike, but not as old as Mu La Flaga.

He had an interesting personality one which was rather straightforward, and one which emanated a sense of determination, he was hard to discern in terms of his motivations though. He seemed like a very strong person, and he had strong opinions of certain issues. But what got his attention was the fact that this new pilot seemed to be from the Alliance Special Forces.

Lacus wasn't sure how this person knew how to pilot a machine, but from her encounter, he was carrying a few secrets with him. Rau was certainly intrigued by this new pilot, he was different, and he seemed to surpass Mu in terms of fighting style, as for experience, it was hard to say. Regardless, the fact that he could use a mobile suit and one like the Eventide, spoke volumes as to what level he was standing on.

He wanted to gather as much information, but it seemed the young pink haired woman had little else to inform him about, she saw Ray a few times before her escape from the Archangel. So there was little else to go on, but it was of no matter, Rau knew that there was only a few other courses of action to take from here on out.

A sudden chime from his door indicated to Rau that someone had come. The blonde haired man was quick to secure his mask back onto his face and answer.  
"Come in."

The door slid open as Athrun Zala appeared.  
"Sir, you requested my presence?" The young man inquired.

Rau nodded as he pulled up the datapad.  
Rau stated his assessment. "This new mobile suit is proving to be a very serious problem, most of the Council members are currently discussing the matter at length, and this sudden twist of events had caused one hell of a stir within the Council and the military."

"What will happen, sir?" Athrun inquired promptly, the navy haired pilot had a certain tone which indicated he was anxious to hear of their next course of action.

Rau surmised. "We've faced multiple defeats at the hands of this new machine, Eventide, and its pilot. Rayleigh Hyung, an interesting fellow most certainly he's proven quite a danger, and the higher ups want him dealt with at the earliest convenience."

"So will we be going onto the offensive?"

"Without a doubt, our rendezvous with the 3rd Fleet is only a step. Soon we will be escalating; I do hope you're ready." He said to Athrun.

'Yes, I'd like to see you Rayleigh Hyung, let's see what you can do.' Rau mused inwardly.

XXXXX

AN: Okay I'm going to address this right here and right now, I'm sorry for the hiatus, but real life problems and medical issues are completely and totally wrecking my shit right now, and I can't afford to miss a beat. I'll cram whatever I can into the short break period I have right now and let you guys read through it all.

But I can't guarantee quality all the same since I'm pretty tired from all the backlogged work and ongoing family issues I've been dealing with. Life is kicking my ass and I'm just taking it as I go, nothing more and nothing less. I've got chapters 8 – 10 all drafted, so I'll try posting them within 2 weeks, chapter 8 by Friday or Saturday, and then Chapter 9 on next week Thursday or Friday. If I can squeeze chapter 10, it'll be the following Sunday or Monday afterwards.

And I better say this right now, the quality of the story might vary, since I actually planned to revise the work around Chapter 8 and 9 since I wanted the story to go in another direction entirely, but now I'm going to have to go with what I have, which might not be good.

Also I'll say this now, I'll be revising the Prologue and Chapter 1 and others as well, and those will come later. So check up later in the week, I'll tell you when they've been revised.


	9. Chapter 8- Carnage Over Dawn

Chapter 8: The Carnage over Dawn

XXXXX

AN: Prologue and Chapter 1 will be updated later today or tomorrow.

XXXXX

Returning to the ship with Kira had been a slightly awkward affair. The stunt Kira had pulled had caused quite a commotion, and while Ray knew that he'd no doubt be questioned in regards to allowing Kira to leave the ship, he would need to stand in for taking part of the blame; it was mostly to avoid looking at though he was dodging responsibility.

As they flew back, Ray spoke to Kira.  
"Hey Kira, if it's any consolation, you've done what you think was right, can't really do more than that, but for the future learn to read the atmosphere, it'll help you out.

"Did I do the right thing?" Kira asked him.

"If you're asking me whether or not what you did was right then you'd be asking the wrong person, I think the question you're looking for is more do you believe what you did was right?"

"In my mind, I feel as though this is what had to be done."

"Then you should accept it, believe in a cause that you stand behind, a principle you can hold onto, or don't, I'm not here to tell you what to think. But just remember, you've already done this, you can't change that." He said as they returned to the Archangel.

There was no further exchange of words, as they would be heading to speak with the Captain and the other officers in regards to Kira's actions, no doubt Ray would be questioned in regards to that. And indeed it wasn't long before they were summoned to speak with the Captain.  
"I see that both of you are here."

"I'm merely here to see the proceedings and add in my report."

"You would also need to explain why on Earth you were also letting Kira escape."

"You can't say that I definitively feigned negligence, but I won't admit or deny such a thing." He defended.

"The crew saw you board your mobile suit right before Kira did, and then pursued him."

"I was conducting a few system checks, no harm in that right?" He reasoned.

"While in a pilot suit?"

"I can't operate the start up without my pilot suit."

"But you already knew about Kira's plan didn't you?" She asked.

"I may have suspected it, but I never intervened, deciding it wasn't worth me getting involved in other people's affairs."

"For an Alliance soldier, you seem quite intent on ignoring certain protocols."

"Only when I feel it necessary to do so." He said with a nonchalant shrug.

"Either way I'm confining you to quarters for the duration of the week; this is only because we need you for active roster, and training. You plan to stick around correct?" She asked him a little annoyed.

"I have no reason to leave as of yet." Ray said promptly.

Murrue turned her attention to Kira, she was a little more thoughtful in regards to Kira for various reasons, and she was going to make this entire issue cut and dry.  
"As for you Kira, this is a lot more serious of a breach, and due to the nature of your action, this would be counted as an act of insubordination and breach of military protocol, on multiple levels. In any event, I won't gloss over the decision, for the time being we'll be putting you in confinement as well, only because you are civilian and the nature of your stay with us is arguably different. I'd rather believe that under special circumstances you'd be treated as such. But I ask you at least speak to us about this beforehand."

"Understood Captain." Kira said calmly.

"In any event, I have to deal with the fallout; I suggest you get some proper rest. Tomorrow we'll be linking up with the 8th Fleet." Murrue told both of them. "Dismissed."

They both exited the room, followed by Mu who had come along to see them in the aftermath; he had gotten back on last, and figured that there might have been some other proceeding. But with the captain deciding on meeting out disciplinary action on both of them differently, he understood why.

"So you're back on duty?"

"For the time being, not like I could wander off at this point."

"Figures, I couldn't blame her, you're a tangle of trouble like Kira, just a little more complex. You probably didn't think you could sneak away from this did you?"

"I thought about the probability, either way I'd at least admit culpability. I couldn't leave him hanging for all the blame." Ray stated.

"Fond of Kira?"

"No, just making sure that I'm there when I need to be." He replied.

(AN: There was going to be an actual court martial, but it took too long.)

XXXXX

After their meeting and impromptu penalty, Ray had gone back to his quarters to spend his confinement in peace and quiet, as well as taking time to speak with Alice on some predictive statistical models in regards to the events of the future and how they'd play out. So far he was getting some rather worrisome predictions.

But these were in the event of something going horribly wrong; in other cases he just ran the numbers in regards to whether or not they'd accomplish any meaningful goal. The chances of something like this happening was very slim, at the moment at least. For him thing seemed fine, there was no indication of real trouble yet.

The next day, the Archangel and the surviving members of the advanced recon fleet had finally arrived at the 8th Fleet's position, something which Ray was immensely grateful for, seeing as how this gave him the opportunity to avoid dealing with Mr Allster, the Foreign Minister having huffed and puffed about his gripe with Ray's supposed aid in allowing Kira to leave with Lacus.

Thankfully he got a free pass thanks to him feigning ignorance, while Flay who had gone to the effort to protect Kira from scrutiny by distracting her father from his displeasure of Kira. In the end, this had worked out well to keep Kira going, and Ray out of the line of fire as he busily trained the young man in zero gee combat.

He had also gone to some effort to help out the kids to practice for the immediate future, as he hoped he could convince them to withhold leaving the ship just yet. A lot of things were riding on Kira, he nudged them into the mindset that sticking around for Kira was a good thing, and most agreed, albeit hesitantly.

But this was in the midst of some issues regarding Flay, who from what the kids understood was, her father intended to take her to Earth, and even suggested bringing along Sai. Though Sai had thought about it, he was conflicted as much as Kira about the decision to leave. For Ray, he was quite adamant on keeping the gang together, so he distanced him from the Minister, letting him consolidate his thoughts.

'Let's just hope I've played my cards accordingly, if things go well, then Kira would be willing to stick around and fight and his friends will be there to support him. As for Flay, well that's another obstacle.' Ray thought deeply.

Today was going to be the real kicker, and he had to be ready.

XXXXX

After they stopped with the 8th Fleet, they were busy getting resupplied, with new equipment, weapons and parts. Ray had checked the manifest for anything of note, and made it a point to the Captain to requisition more munition, and even some spare pieces for the Striker Packs, in case they had to replace or repair them.

He knew that Strike would be going through tons of battles, and he wanted to customise the Strike using readily available parts he could get his hands on. There would be time in the near future to upgrade the Strike, hopefully so that Kira would be able to fight more equally on Earth, he knew there would be much more trouble on the horizon, with Zala's team getting full upgrades in pursuing the Archangel and Strike.

But until then, he'd be patient, there was still time before that, and the battle in orbit was going to be a lot more hectic. With him in this fight, there was going to be a shift in focus, and once they were on Earth, hopefully not off course, or too far off course, then they'd be able to focus on the main series of events.

It was midday when the Archangel Staff officers were called together for their transport over to the 8th Fleet Flagship Agamemnon, and it would be here Ray intended to meet with Admiral Halberton in person. It was an interesting experience to be sure, since he was going to have to reveal some very ugly truths to the Admiral.

Aboard the shuttle the crew were busy going over what they had intended to report when they arrived on the flagship, so far everyone was distracted by a myriad of thoughts. But for Ray, he knew that there was a lot to take into consideration, the precarious situation he found himself in was the internal politics of the Alliance, and how he knew that he had to manipulate the context to fit his needs.

He just hoped that the situation was just as he read it, or he would be in for a ton of shit. Admiral Halberton didn't realise the nature of the Alliance government or the Atlantic Federation, and if there was any hope of getting the man to side with Murrue in the future, then he would need to convince the man.

His train of thoughts were broken as he saw the distinct burst of engines being ignited, a flight of Mobile Armour moved through the fleet.  
"Hey I know those units." Ray said cheerfully while pointing outside of the shuttle window.

"Aren't those the new Moebius models the Alliance Navy had been producing for space?" Murrue asked while watching them performing their manoeuvres.

"Yeah, TS-MA-X3A Moebius Eta, I heard these had been in development at Luna though."

"Experimental type mobile armours?"

"They were put into limited production, I'm certain you'd know about them though Mu." Ray turned to the lieutenant who gave him a perplexed expression.

"Me? Well I met one of their training squadrons in the past, but that was just once, before I had been given the duty to train the pilots for the G-weapons project."

"You knew about these machines?"

"Well yeah, I was part of the training unit which had been assigned to them."

"But you got the task for training the G-weapons operators instead."

"I never thought these things would enter into production so soon though."

"I doubt it; these are probably issued to a veteran unit which finished orientation." Ray surmised.

"That's probably true as well, given the scale of the battles recently breaking out; the EA must be desperate to turn their luck around." Mu said in agreement.

The experimental X3A Moebius Eta was quite a step up from the older Moebius types; their performance was given a boost with newer engines boosters to achieve higher speeds. They also featured variable thrust system which allowed the engines to pivot 360 degrees; high speed manoeuvring made them far more versatile for combat.

An added improvement over older TS-MA2 models was the increased firepower, being able to utilise improved weapon systems, most could use experimental beam weapons, twin linear guns, and a new missile pod attachment to fire a barrage of missiles against enemy mobile suits. They were the Alliance's primary interdictor in terms of countering mobile suits used by the ZAFT forces.

It was a shame that they didn't get more attention, since the series skimmed their involvement entirely, thanks to the fact that SEED mostly focused on mobile suits and other aspects of the story and diverged wildly away from the more everyday people of the world. Like the way space battles were fought, the reboot of SEED actually attempted to establish realistic space combat.

He watched them dancing around in formation around the fleet, before his attention turned back to their approach to the 8th Fleet's flagship, Agamemnon.

XXXXX

400,000 kilometres away…

On the edge of a debris field a pair of Alliance Drake-class frigates traversed the debris field, they were closer to corvettes in terms of firepower and speed, intended to scour the field and report back to the 8th fleet. The 'Baton Rouge' and 'Yazoo' had been given orders to keep a lookout for potential enemy forces approaching the 8th fleet from the debris field. To this end, both ships had deployed two TS-MA2-R units to patrol the area.

A wiry looking man with visors looked over his sensor unit. "Scopes are clear, nothing so far."

"Keep on it Shawshank, we've still got 30,000 k's to go." The pilot, a burly unshaven man with Martini scratched onto his pilot suit said.

"How do you suppose the enemy's going to sneak an assault fleet right through the debris belt, especially with the 8th Fleet nearby?"

"Plenty of ways, as long as they kept to the debris field and shied from lining across the horizon, they could move a fleet of ships under the cover of the debris field, it's an old trick used by smugglers and criminals before the war broke out."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I was a patrol officer for the old UN Space Administration Force, so I know this." Gabe said.

"No way, I thought you were an old space junker."

"Junk guilder? The fuck?" Gabe said perplexed.

"Hey you're messy as one." Shaw remarked.

"You got me there." Gabe laughed as they continued their patrol route.

It was then something caught the attention of Shawshank.  
"Hey did you see that?"

"What is it?" Gabe dropped his mirth and focused on Shaw's response.

"Sirocco-3 probe just picked something up…" Shawshank replied. "It's moving."

"It's not another runaway engine from a defunct craft is it?" The pilot asked as he checked their sensor logs.

"No, too big, thermographic analysis says waste heat; it's distinct, moving along our axis, 273, 103, 700 kilometres."

"I think it's time to report in." The pilot said as he hit the com channel for the ship.

"Baton – Actual, this is Clyde-1 we're detecting a heat source in our area, unable to determine what it is, requesting permission to investigate."

"Understood Clyde-1, you're permitted to investigate."

"Alright let's see what's going on…" Gabe said as he pulled their recon craft into a quick burn.

He accelerated to 200m/s and burned for 30 seconds before stopping, letting inertia carry their craft into the debris field, as he got deeper, the pings of loose debris and objects bounced off the hull of their Recon Moebius. It was a disconcerting feeling that at any moment an object bigger than a soft ball could potentially rupture a fuel tank or damage a sensor, but Gabe kept his calm.

"Should we cut speed now?"

"Not until we're within 50kms, better we get there in a hurry, debris aren't so much an issue, we're depressurised, and I know that our armour can handle more than a bit of rough handling."

"Umm is that a safe conclusion?"

"Come on man, I've done this a hundred times, this is nothing new, barring the fact that we're in a warzone. Better we find the enemy, than the enemy finding us."

"If you say so."

They closed distance to approximately 50kms before Gabe cut back and throttled their Moebius down slow enough that they could safely visualise the surrounding area, he manoeuvred them around large debris and such to avoid being spotted.

"Is that a Mistral?" Shawshank said.

"Looks like it, looks like its running out of control."

"That looks like Spadder's unit!"

"What's wrong?" Gabe asked.

"Spadder's was the unit attached to the orbital patrol; they went missing a couple of days ago." Shawshank said as he looked at the fighter's damaged fuselage.

Gabe froze as he felt something cold in the pit of his stomach; he yanked his controls to the back and pulled the Moebius away as the derelict Mistral suddenly exploded.

"What the hell?"

"It was rigged with explosives, and old booby trap technique used by pirates and criminals to down rescue units and patrols, son of a bitch."

As they managed to get clear, the operator suddenly received a warning on his console.  
"Gabe, IR spike, we're being targeted!" The co-pilot yelled as the alarms rang. "Lock on!"

"Where?" Gabe reacted reflexively as he pulled the machine away from the area and made a headlong reverse thrust towards the debris field.

"320, 112, one incoming!" Shawshank replied in succession.

The craft made a sharp turn around the nearest source of debris just as the enemy fired a guided missile in their direction; the pilot and co-pilot were pressed into their harness as their recon Moebius made an escape vector through the debris field. Their pilot suits pressed their bodies as they pulled over 3g of force making the manoeuvre before the missile could reach them.

Gabe was a seasoned pilot to know how to get around missiles, ducked his unit between two narrow points, he deployed flares and at the edge of one of the floating sections, fired an anchor into the section before, he cut engines and let momentum carry them away. The missile locked onto the flares but missed as it was an impact only type warhead; it flew randomly through them and slammed into a debris section.

The explosion detonated behind the Moebius as Gabe using the anchor had swung them around the debris and sent them at a perpendicular angle; he severed the anchor at the right time to allow them a straight shot out of the field. As they raced across the debris field dodging as many large chunks of floating junk.

The enemy pursued them from behind. Gabe was able to take evasive action and bring them around the enemy's flank as they attempted to fire a missile up their engine exhaust; he ducked around to get a proper view of the mono eyed monstrosity hunting them. His eyes fell upon not the machine, as daunting as it looked, but the side insignia.

"Clyde-1 to Baton Rouge Actual, we're being pursued by enemy mobile suit, GINN-Recon variant, markings; they're from the 3rd ZAFT expeditionary fleet!" Gabe yelled as he tapped the com suite, hoping that it'd transmit.

"Fucking hell, they're part of Butcher of the Messene's fleet?" The operator exclaimed as they attempted to dodge incoming fire.

"Shaw, focus!" Gabe yelled as he pulled them away.

"I'm transmitting, but we're getting nothing, jamming from those suits and the debris field is screwing our signal, it's bouncing all over the place."

"It looks like we don't have much of a choice, we'll have to link back up, and hopefully we can get a warning to the fleet."

The small craft dove around large chunks of broken debris and through the wreckage of a destroyed cruiser, still taking fire from the enemy mobile suit; the amount of obstacles and the higher manoeuvrability of their recon Moebius gave them an edge in terms of being able to avoid direct fire around these tight bends.

It was thanks to the improved engine boosters added for escapes when needed; the craft could handle the increased manoeuvres and demands from the pilot to evade pursuit. But mobile suits weren't called mobile suits for nothing, and these were long range recon type GINNs, meaning that they were capable of pursuit.

Gabe came up with an idea.  
"Shaw, how good is your sense of direction?"

"Why?"

"I'm going to do a duck and cover."

"What?"

"We'll blind them by using our missiles and smoke screen, dunk it into an area which they'll attempt to pursue us and lead them off in multiple directions."

"That's insanely risky."

"Better than nothing." He said.

As they headed towards a series of broken floating buildings, Gabe set his guidance computer to dumb fire 2 missiles off as decoys, the smoke screen behind him would allow him to divert the GINNs attention away long enough to make a duck and cover act. It was a rather old fashioned trick, but he knew it worked on pursuit units.

The missiles shot through the screen as he hooked their anchor to the side of a debris chunk and let them pass over. Within a minute the screen dissipated and the GINNs had appeared to have moved off. Gabe detached from the debris piece and let them drift off at low speeds towards the cover of some solar panels.

"Did we lose them?" Shaw asked.

"I think so, that scattering effect should have thrown their sensors off from us." Gabe said as he looked around.

As they moved past a broken solar panel and towards a gap to which they'd be able to sling themselves towards their ships, they didn't see the waiting sniper behind the cover of a broken apartment complex which floated loosely nearby. It zeroed in on them and within moments, unleashed a burst of fire.

Their fighter was struck by three systemic hits from enemy fire, the first ripped through the starboard engine and was followed by another which tore into their fuselage rupturing the internal fuel tanks and sending their Moebius into a spin. Gabe attempted to correct their orientation but the last round impact right through the cockpit.

The bullet blowing through Shawshank's seat before the craft went tumbling away into a debris piece, Gabe only conscious enough to see their craft smash into the side of a broken section of an apartment which had been left adrift from some forgotten colony project. In an instant the craft was smashed against the structure before exploding in a fireball.

Regardless of whether or not Clyde-1 was able to return back to the ship, the 'Baton Rouge' and the 'Yazoo' had both been destroyed in the time the two craft were engaged in recon. The ZAFT units having drawn the recon fighters from their intended path, the mobile suits hiding in the debris field managed to get right under the prow of the ships and engaged before they could effectively respond to the attack.

Both frigates were sunk within minutes by precise shots from the advanced GINN recon scouts from the 3rd ZAFT expeditionary fleet.

The leader of the pair observed. "Looks like the pathway is clear."

"Signal back to the Cygnus, we're done here."

"Understood captain." The recon specialist replied.

XXXXX

Meanwhile…

Ray had spent some time pondering over the decisions he had made over the course of his arrival into this reality, the risks he was taking with Lacus and George Allster had put him in an uncertain position. He felt somewhat like Kira, but he a definite end game in sight, the trouble was how much trouble he'd have to go through to get to that end game.

And now he was here, in Halberton's office with the rest of the Archangel's command staff, he was wondering if the Captain was feeling nervous. In the time they had spent debriefing, the attention turned to Kira, who Ray stood up for; deciding in trying to convince them that he believed Kira would stay aboard, if for his friends.

Natarle made the remark about pressuring Kira, but Ray smacked the argument down, and emphasised on the choice being ultimately up for Kira to decide, it'd be unsightly for someone to be forced to fight. He had known from experience that child soldiers didn't tend to do well when you had a gun put to the back of their heads or hold something against them.

In any event, Halberton agreed, it'd be unsightly to utilise a forced child soldier. Ray understood the mentality which Natarle looked into, 'the ends justify the means', but such thinking was dangerous, especially when it came to people. You shouldn't justify the means by ignoring every principle in the book, or what would you even call those principles?

It wasn't long before they wrapped up debrief, Murrue had expressed her concerns about a ZAFT counter attack, but the admiral understood, there was going to be a battle. He reassured her that he had no intention to stick around and die needlessly, but he would see the Archangel to her destination.

As reassuring as he could make it sound, realistically the fight was going to be very ugly; still the man had an air of confidence. As they wrapped up debrief, the admiral asked him to remain.  
"Warrant Officer Rayleigh Hyung, can you please remain, I'd like to speak with you."

"Yes sir." Ray said promptly in response, he knew what was going to happen and kept a straight face, the others gave him a look of concern, at least Murrue did, La Flaga passed him a curt nod of the head, which Ray returned and Natarle left without so much as a glance.

'Do or die time.' Ray thought inwardly as he looked upon the admiral, remaining stoic, though internally he was uneasy. There was a lot that could go horribly wrong if he couldn't convince the Admiral about his reasons, he Halberton wasn't a fool, he was a military man, and one with the capacity to understand reason.  
"Sir, what is it you'd like to discuss with me?" Ray asked after a few moments.

"There is actually quite a bit. I've noticed that you were the only officer aboard the ship who has forgone writing down anything in specific detail, understandable considering your position, however what has drawn my attention was the way you handled the incident regarding a Ms Lacus Clyne, apparently you were helping her to escape."

"I've stated for the record, I had no direct participation in the incident I merely conveyed it." He stated clearly. "I let it play out, that's all I can say."

"Rather unorthodox for someone who claims to be a Special Forces operative?"

"I am unorthodox, more so than some people would like."

"As well as the fact you revealed the existence of your mobile suit rather than hide it is another thing I've read upon by Captain Ramius, and the fact you were hiding a great deal of knowledge was what perturbed her."

"I can't say much Admiral; you should know that, I've revealed that Eventide is an experimental unit, and one which no one outside of the chosen few was supposed to know of its existence or what it was intended to do." Ray stated.

"I inquired about your origins, and I even made a call to the Alliance HQ on Luna about your existence, so far no one has been able to give me a straight answer, Alliance HQ on Luna declared that your existence is unknown to them. Though they might be covering for you, but I don't think so." Halberton levelled at Ray with an intense look.

"Because, if that was the case, they wouldn't have asked about whether or not I was present in the fleet?" Ray already knew what the man was thinking.

"You got that right, you don't exist on their records, and as far as I know, Luna HQ has done little to try and me give answers as much as they're been attempting to extract answers from me."

"Then certainly that must answer some suspicions." Ray said.

"Indeed it has. You're been lying about your origin and that machine haven't you?"

"In a sense, it's a complicated matter."

"Is that so? And why would that be?"

"Sir if I may speak frankly?"

"You may." He permitted.

"Sir, I am military, albeit formerly, I can't state for certain if you'd understand why I am involved in all of this, and if you did, I doubt you'd quite agree with why I am doing this."

"And why might this be the case?"

"It's a waste, a needless and bloody waste of lives, all perpetrated for the sake of politics, something I and you find distasteful, we are soldiers, we fight for the people in the sense we will protect the people and the ideals by which the society we were raised in. But we cannot blindly turn our eyes from the poor decisions and needless bloodletting." Ray clearly said.

"And now this brings up my opinion as to why would this matter to the conversation?"

"Because the program I was involved in was a Black Ops project designed to create mobile suits which would ultimately ensure the Alliance pushes for further aggression against the PLANTs."

"What?" Halberton said perplexed.

"You might not know this Admiral, but behind closed doors you have many enemies, some who are closer than you might think."

"That's a bold claim, what evidence do you have?"

"This." Ray said pulling up a data card.

"What is this?" He asked Ray.

"A replacement project, I stole this from a secure terminal at Heliopolis during the attack by ZAFT, I was tasked with retrieving data, but I have a habit of sticking my nose into things I shouldn't. This was transmitted by Morgenrote to an unknown satellite base." Ray informed him as he gestured for Halberton to plug it in.

"These units." He said as he looked up the profiles.

"They're based on the cooperative efforts from the G-weapons research, they're currently under development in the Atlantic Federation under the guise of a special application program, but it won't be long before they're launched. I know for a certainty that the Alliance intends to use them." He informed Halberton.

"The design on these units, who authorised their creation?" Halberton asked.

"Members of Alliance High Command, I know for a certainty that Admiral Sutherland and several other officials had been involved in this as well." Ray stated. "But you couldn't pin the evidence unless you knew where to look."

"Why are you showing me this?" He asked.

"Because Admiral, if you choose to ignore what's going around you admiral, it might just cost you your life, and many other people's, something I'd like to avoid." He said seriously.

There was a moment of contemplation from the admiral, clearly he was shocked about this new revelation that the Alliance military or more specifically radicals within the military of the Atlantic Federation planned to do something. His aim was actually more distinct, Halberton was a man who stood for ending the war with an armistice, rather than total annihilation.

He was a man of a strong ideology which stood behind fighting for the sake of the people and the system it was supposed to represent, but he had never considered how bad it would get. It was his belief that he could convince those at Alaska to change their minds for the immediate future, ending the war before things escalated. Not escalating it under their terms in order to push an agenda.

"Who else do you say is involved in this?" He asked.

"Murata Azrael, a notable member of Blue Cosmos, I know he's got his hands in the Alliance military, especially with his supporters in the Atlantic Federation government, paid and bought officials, and a few nice handshakes here and there. He's got a lot of pull, especially with Admiral Sutherland, and from what I understand, he's got plans."

"What sort of plans are we talking about?" Halberton asked.

"Do you know anything about Project Wipeout?" Ray asked the admiral.

"No, but I have a feeling you do."

"It's ongoing at Alaska right now, and I know for a certainty it's not good, especially if I suspect what they plan to do with it."

"Why is that?"

"Project wipeout is utilising thousands of engineers and technicians in areas to work on something that Alaska HQ has at JOSH-A, I can't get deeper into it, but I believe that it will have significant impact on the war, serious enough that it might resulting in worsening hostilities. And worse yet, it might leverage Blue Cosmos into a position of absolute power."

"And what would you like me to do?" Halberton asked, clearly he knew Ray wanted something.

Ray reassured him. "Do nothing, I have a contact that is already looking into the project, but I'd like for you to help me, find a way to bring these men to justice. I'm asking this not so much as a favour but something I know you would feel compelled by, it might save a lot of lives at the end."

"Sounds like quite a goal, but why are you pinning such a proposal upon a common career soldier? I'm sure you could have approached others." Halberton asked curiously.

"You are one of the few men I know with greater integrity than those in Alaska, and while my branch is busy developing these weapons, I know they're dancing in the palm of Blue Cosmos. I can't trust anyone barring select individuals as to what I know. But you have a reputation." Ray reasoned.

Halberton was a principled man, with a reputation that kept him in a position of power that Blue Cosmos couldn't overrule him on, this made him an obstacle, and if they could get rid of him, they'd take it. But right now he was needed, and while Ray knew that there was a firestorm that'd erupt from this, he'd make sure Halberton was there to contend.

Having him around could change things drastically, if you knew why, for one Halberton disagreed with the sentiment of his fellow officers, and on top of that he scrutinised heavily Alliance policies. If anything the man would more likely fight against Blue Cosmos under the grounds of stopping their madness as well as Rau's plans.

"And you truly trust me to carry through with this?"

"I have no reason not to, you might be a career officer, but you're a conscious man, you care more about the lives under your command as well as the lives of others. You couldn't shake this fact off."

It was true, the Admiral found wasting lives distasteful especially by those in the higher echelons of command.  
"Very well I'll see to what I may be able to do, I hope your gamble pays off, for the both of us."

"I don't plan on losing." Ray said.

"Somehow I wonder do you intend to walk this road alone?" Halberton asked him.

"It's not the first time." Ray answered with a cheery smile.

Halberton assessed the man before him, Ray wasn't lying to him, as far as he could tell, there was indeed a conspiracy going on within the Alliance military, and the war was about to reach a new and terrible level. With Blue Cosmos in the mix, and officials rubbing shoulders with them, he would need to be extremely careful to avoid being blindsided.

'Where does the road lead?' He thought deeply at the implication of his next few choices.

"If that is all, I'll take my leave."

"Dismissed." The admiral said.

Ray, left leaving a rather brooding man comes to terms with an uncertain future.

XXXXX

After exiting the Admiral's office, he was asked by Murrue what he had discussed, but he didn't reveal more than some nonsense about his trip to Alaska and plans for him to be debriefed afterwards. There was no mention of names or anything specific barring he mentioned to Mu about some potential training opportunities for new mobile suit pilots.

It wasn't long before Ray returned to the ship to check upon his things, making sure to get ready for the coming storm, he had gone over his inventory for this battle, he knew that it would be a tough one; the ZAFT fleet coming in would be well armed and equipped. And they were going to throw a lot at them, but something felt nagging, he couldn't shake it, not since the day before, he didn't know what it was though.

At first he thought it was his old instincts kicking up in preparation for battle, but he dismissed the notion as he had done a lot to supress such instinct. No this felt as though something fairly bad was going to happen in this next engagement.

"Murdoch, I need you to prepare a few things for me while I'm going out, here's a list."

"What is this?"

"Strike's newest upgrade, I want him to pack these weapons and equipment in combat, I don't care if Kira objects to it, he'll need it if he wants to survive the next engagement."

"That's a lot to get done." Murdoch said scratching his head at the list details. "We're taxed as it is."

"Well it's not like you'll be doing too much in regards to space after this. I assume we've got new things?" He asked.

"Yeah a whole bunch, even some Skygrasper units."

"Then this shouldn't be a problem, the issue is going to be in the more immediate future, for now, tell Kira to load up and get Strike prepared for combat. He'll go with a full combat load, and I'll be going to help the fleet in defensive action."

"Didn't the Captain say?" Murdoch was about to object.

"I know what the Captain said about joining in, I'm going in anyway." He said as he headed down to the Eventide.

"Alice, please tell me everything is set?" As he got closer he contacted Alice.

"I spent the last day preparing your Mod-1 changes, just as you specified, are you sure that you want to go through with this?" She asked him.

"We'll need the Burst mode for combat if we're going to live to see tomorrow."

"And what about the secrecy of Eventide's total capabilities?"

"It might all go to hell either way, so no point in keeping it secret if we're all going to die." He noted.

Yes battle was coming, but neither Ray nor anyone knew what was about to unfold truly.

XXXXX

In the aftermath of the battle with the Eventide, things had taken a sharp turn around, the data sent back to the PLANT supreme council had sparked another heated debate about the potential fallout of a new mobile suit which could surpass the previous G-weapons captured. ZAFT had been the first to respond, taking drastic measures to do all it could to ensure that the Archangel, Strike and the newly dubbed Eventide were destroyed.

Laurentia-class cruiser had been called upon, with a full fleet from ZAFT's 3rd Expeditionary Fleet, one of the first fleets to engage in battle over Earth; it was the most notable for defeating the 5th and 2nd Alliance Fleets in battle, and wiping out most of the defences around two Alliance space colonies.

The fleet's force wasn't up to its full potential mainly because it had been on a deployment around the moon not long ago, and they hadn't time to resupply their force. Not like it would really matter at this point, this was a rushed operation; one which they hoped would be enough to deal with the Archangel and the 8th Fleet quickly.

A total of twenty seven ships were gathered, in comparison, the Earth Alliance's 8th fleet numbered over forty. Coupled together with the Archangel, this gave them a pretty big playing field, the fleet in orbit had constant resupplies and had ample time to organise, which was a bit of an issue, seeing as how the 3rd Expeditionary Fleet had 3 damaged ships which had depleted most of their mobile suits.

Rau was currently having his CGUE Altair repaired and refitted, again. This time he was opting for more firepower rather than melee capabilities, he experienced how badly things could get with the Eventide's devastating ability to slice things apart with ease. Engaging in melee against that machine was a good way to die quickly.

Eventide's abilities were miraculous; it was as if the machine's pilot had refined his skills to near perfection. It was more than capable of going toe to toe with multiple suits at once, and even with his custom CGUE with wire guided attack system, he was unable to defeat it. This raised a lot of questions as to the potential abilities the Eventide possessed.

He knew from Yzak and Dearka's previous engagement that the Eventide was much faster, and manoeuvrable than in its fighter form, for whatever reason, the pilot known as Ray Hyung, was able to perform feats which surpassed his own machine or that of any of the G-weapons making it likely one of the most powerful G-weapons in existence by this point.

The trouble was that he had no clue as to the sheer extent of the machine's total abilities, which is why this mission was going to be so crucial. Having emphasised the strategic and tactical issue of facing multiple G-weapons like the Eventide and Strike, the ZAFT HIGH Command had viewed this as something which had to be dealt with ASAP, even with the risks posed to the 3rd Fleet, the option to destroy that machine was just too good to pass up.

Athrun made a case and statement to support military action in pursuing a new aggressive policy in attacking the Eventide would be preferable than ignoring the dangers presented by the mobile suit.

"So you must be Rau La Creuset, the White Phantom, quite a reputation you've gained for yourself during the battle of Endymion." Rau turned his attention to the tall but well-built figure of Admiral Vinzer.

"Why thank you Admiral Vinzer, I must concede though, having heard of your achievements, I doubt I could hardly compare."

"Ha, modest are we?" Vinzer said levelling a wolfish grin. The man was good at reading people and Rau knew this.

Rau did his utmost to keep himself composed, knowing the man; it was a bad idea to piss with him.  
"I've been quite interested in your reputation with large scale fleet engagements."

"I've proven the concept that it is possible to win without the need of mobile suits, but I never neglect potential assets for turning the tides of battle."

"So this new machine, Eventide, quite imposing isn't it?" The Admiral said upon examining the 3D generated construction of the machine.

"It is more than anything the other G-weapons are, being able to perform transformation in space while battling, and being able to utilise such impressive firepower and manoeuvrability. It's already making waves within our forces; many call it the Azure Hurricane, thanks to its blinding speed and deadly accurate weapons." Rau stated while he recalled his encounter. "It managed to destroy two GINNs and disable the G-weapons Duel, Buster left mainly because it had run dry, but I don't doubt that if it had still the ability to fight, it would have been defeated as well."

"This is a very concerning development, for something which had been concealing itself as an experimental fighter craft; the operator of such a machine must be incredibly skilled." Vinzer noted.

"Either that or they might be a coordinator." Rau stated.

This comment certainly grabbed their attention.  
"It makes sense, there's no way a natural human's reactions would be near the level of that of ours, not to mention the tremendous strain the body much be put under in order to achieve such speeds. They're either a traitor or just brainwashed, regardless, they're a threat, and a major one."

"I can imagine the sentiment, no doubt that the Alliance might try taking more drastic measures to win this war, but I would not draw to that conclusion so quickly." Vinzer stated.

Their fleet's movement were steady, they'd be soon to engage the Archangel and 8th Fleet in orbit, utilising the movement of the debris field, they'd shadow from a blind spot created by their advanced scouts. And then from there, the process of attacking the fleet was easy, the trouble was more about whether or not dealing with the Archangel would be as easy.

'But I'll be ready for you this time, Eventide.' Rau thought as he looked at the display.

XXXXX

Riika Sheder was a member of the 3rd ZAFT Fleet's elite force of mobile suit pilots, the Crimson Hunters, their reputation was originally a thing referred to about their past history in developing new mobile suits. Though they weren't normally mobilised as an actual force for ZAFT, all were red coats of ZAFT thanks to their combat record and history, as well as their specialised training in the use of advanced suits.

The Crimson Hunters had been called in as part of the gathered fleet to assist in the destruction of the Earth Alliance Forces fleet which had rallied with the 'Legged' ship. Though it was more about the concerns regarding the Alliance's newest mobile suits, the Strike and the Eventide, from what reports have been flying around.

Eventide was the biggest threat compared to the Strike, being far superior in mobility and speed, not to mention the fact that it could transform, and higher specs in terms of speed and manoeuvrability. This was nothing anyone had seen before, and the fact that the Eventide possessed such a thing, made people wonder how powerful it was.

It wasn't nearly as concerning as the fact that the pilot was a natural with years of military experience and apparently worked for the Alliance Special Forces, which made him even more dangerous. Little else was revealed about the pilot besides that he was some kind of soldier with a long military service history.

As for the potential danger this pilot presented, he was deadly, almost frighteningly so, being able to down multiple machines on his own in a short period of time, he had made a name for himself. Most referred to the Eventide as the Azure Hurricane, thanks to his remarkable speed and devastating ability to fight multiple machines with relative ease.

Riika couldn't say for certain, but she felt that this battle would be a testament for the final trials on the ZGMF-1017-MAS Hunter, their latest attempt at upgrading the ZGMF-1017s; it'd be a great upgrade for their units. But the modifications and adjustments needed were rather slow, making it difficult to apply to every unit.

The added benefit of their MAS variants were their newer weapon systems, armour and mobility in space and on Earth, as nice as it seemed though, there were still quite a few kinks to work out. Still it didn't make the young pilot wonder if it'd be enough to really turn the tide of the coming battle.

'But at least I'll get to see the Eventide up close and in person.' Riika thought with some measure of fear, excitement and intrigue.

She was an astute person with a deep appreciation for designing and testing machinery, some times more so than others might like. And her interest had fallen on the machine known as Eventide. She looked upon her 1017-MAS with her bunny rabbit with glasses insignia printed on its armour and shield guard.

'Let's see what this battle brings.'

(Anyone who read the Gundam Astray Destiny Manga will know who Riika Sheder is.)

XXXXX

The crew were all discussing their situation at length, with Kira coming to terms with his situation, and the others discussing what they were going to do next. After reaching the fleet safely they were able to take time to think about what they were planning on doing next. The kids had received their walking papers, and they had come to a rather jarring dilemma.

After all they had been through; they now had the option to leave. Flay taking her leave with her father, though they weren't sure if she wanted to stay or not, Sai had gone to speak with her father, and apparently George had decided to take her home, Sai was welcome to come along, but he was hesitant.

He ended up deciding to speak with the others; he wasn't so selfish to just leave without at least speaking with his friends in regards to the immediate future. As much as Flay had wanted to stay on the ship, he left her to her father, they'd speak about this later, but he wasn't sure. At that moment, the group had gotten together in their billet.

At that moment it was oddly silent, all of them contemplating their situation, Kira stood beside them, trying to mull over his situation. As much as he didn't like it, he was put in the spotlight, having seen the Admiral, who admittedly was a nice man, he gave concern to what Kira would do, and felt that he should make his own choice.

'How could I go?' He thought deeply as he looked around.

"Do you think we should leave?" Sai asked the others.

"I don't know, after all we've been through, it seems like kind of like we're abandoning them after helping the Archangel get this far."

"Kira, what do you think about all of this?" Miriallia asked.

"Huh, oh…" Kira thought about this for a while. "I-."

"If you go, we won't hold it against you." A voice cut in.

The group saw Ray standing in the door frame.  
"It's hard making a decision based on your actions. After the sheer amount of death and destruction you've witnessed, and the fact that you're trying to make heads or tails of where you are right now."

"Ray, I don't know, this isn't what I want. I don't want to keep doing this. After all of these things I've done." Kira said.

"There's no easy answer kid, remember that, when you're faced with hard choices, you have to learn to deal with them responsibly, and weigh the decisions carefully. I made my decision to stay in the military a long time ago, and I've experienced quite a bit. Hardship is a fact of life, and expecting life to be easy is a foolish thing to consider."

"How do you know?" He asked intently.

A moment's silence passed before Ray answered. "Experience, I can tell you right now, you may leave, but this war will still be going on, no matter how you look at it. The war will rage on, and it might get better, or it might get worse. I'm going to fight with all I can, but in the end, I might not reach the end, like everyone on this ship."

"I came to the conclusion I should involve myself, because if I didn't, then who would?" He told him. "I fight for a reason, as dangerous as it sounds, and while it puts me through the risk of death, I don't shy away. Because I believe in that reason, even if it means bearing the burden of taking lives."

"That sounds very bleak." Kira said.

"It's a tragic fact of human nature, to maintain peace; we've always had to act accordingly to ensure peace, sometimes through force. Some might argue it's ultimately a self-defeating argument, but it's a tragic reality, peace isn't easy to attain, maintaining it is even harder."

"But I don't want to kill anymore, hasn't there been enough for someone like me? What good is it to keep fighting like this?" Kira demanded.

Ray sighed as he looked up the ceiling; he closed his eyes and then began. "Kira, there's an old saying, there are no coincidences when it comes to encounters, we all meet each other for one reason or another, and even the slightest encounter with another person can change the course of our lives."

"Look at what you've done, don't you think what you've achieved is something you can say to yourself that you've done well enough? I live with the fact that I kill people, I know it's not something I was born to do, but I learnt to do it, because it was necessary, we could argue forever about how killing is wrong in such circumstances. But I've already made my judgement on the matter, killing is inherently wrong, but a necessity when it comes to one's survival."

"So what I've done is right?" Kira levelled.

"It depends on your perception of your actions. Look at what you've done; you've done well to keep your friends alive haven't you? They're still here and breathing, and so are those civilians you've saved, take that as you will, but you should always keep in mind, every action you take will affect everyone around you."

"Choose to take it as you will, but in the end, there's no going back you've changed, and to accept that fact and move on is something necessary for growing up, because you can't change what you've done, no matter how much you wish to."

The group observed the discussion intently, what Ray said made sense at least to some of them, they can't take back what they've done, and he was right in regards to how they've changed. The past is done, there's no changing it, and they've all done things that they can't take back, so why not move forwards?

Kira looked conflicted; he walked off, silent contemplation surrounding him. Ray didn't blame him, and he couldn't, he was not a soldier, at least not in his mind, and he could understand, but he was in this mess whether or not he wanted to be, and Ray had gone down the same path, but he was shaped by circumstance.

He believed in a cause, and he fought for that cause no matter how much suffering it brought him, and with the belief that it was for the greater good in the end. Kira had to come to terms with that, no matter what happened, he was fighting for the future, his future and the future of his friends, and that there was a light at the end of the road.

"You best leave Kira to make up his mind, should he finally decide, that's up to him. As for all of you I want you to think about what I've said today and make your minds up. The road is clear and present, and the fork is up ahead, stay and fight for your future to see this war end sooner, or leave to see it end from the sideline, it matters, because this ship, that mobile suit, and Kira and you can make that difference." Ray said to them calmly before leaving. "Choose wisely."

There was a brief pause before someone spoke.  
"What do you think Kira will do?" Tolle asked the others.

"I dunno, look guys, what should we do? I mean it's tough on Kira, and everyone else, we've helped Archangel and crew get this far, and they don't have enough people to keep going on without us." Sai said disheartened.

"Leaving them behind, to fight alone is kind of selfish isn't it?" Kuzzy asked to the others.

"And the choice we make now will ultimately decide the future won't it?" Sai said perceptively.

"We've changed haven't we?" Miriallia said.

"So, what should we do? Keep going on down this road, or leave it?" Kuzzy asked.

"I'd rather not leave Kira fighting on his own like this, he's been through a lot." Tolle said adamantly.

If there was anyone amongst their group then it was Tolle, who was Kira's closest friend, he was loyal and determined, and none of them could deny this. Tolle always stuck up for his friends, and in this situation, he wanted to stick to it. Miriallia in silent contemplation, she knew that their time was coming up.

They were all rather uncertain of what they were going to do now, after all of this, and the impact that they've left upon the world, it seemed like there was a tough choice ahead. And together they'd keep going, even if it meant risking everything, Kira, regardless of the choice he'd make, they were going to stick it out.

XXXXX

Near the observation deck, Kira had gone back there to contemplate the choices he had made, all the things he had done. But he felt disconcerted, everything was happening now, and he was forced to make a decision, what would it be?

Kira ran into Flay who had gotten away from her father, she faced Kira, with an uncertain look in her eyes.  
"Kira."

"Flay, what are you doing here?" He asked surprised. "Didn't your father want you to leave?"

"I wanted to say goodbye, I didn't know if this will be the last time we see each other, so I wanted to at least speak to you before I left."

"Please don't say that, you'll be on Earth, and I'll be going down as well with Sai and the others."

"I know, but I don't know how to say this."

"What do you mean?"

"I always thought more about you, I'm carless and brash, and I know I said things I shouldn't have."

"Does this mean?"

"I like you a lot, Kira. But I'm conflicted, and glad, I'm glad we met one another. And I want us to see each other again."

"You do?"

"Of course, maybe not here, but on Earth, or wherever you'll go. We'll see each other, and if that means in this war, then I'll fight, even if my father says no. If it means getting to see you again out there, I hope that we'll be able to meet." She said with a sense of determination.

He could see that Flay was willing to step up; she was going to fight as well, because she wanted to be there with him again. Kira was surprised but he was happy.  
"Then let's meet again, in the future."

The two embraced for the moment, Kira was surprised when Flay kissed him on the lips.  
"That's for good luck." She said before departing.

Kira looked on a little surprised, this was the first time he had gotten a kiss from someone, and from Flay. He couldn't help but wonder, what lay in store for him.

(There was actually going to be a lot more interaction between Kira and Flay, with mentions to Sai being involved and some stuff about Flay's aversion to Kira. There were two routes for this, but I chose this one for reasons.)

XXXXX

It wasn't long before the fleet was underway, Flay had gotten off ship with her father, they were taking an executive shuttle down to Alaska, Flay was unhappy about leaving. But Kira and the others reassurance meant that they'd see each other again, and she believed in that, as for Kira, he was left with a decision to be made, which Ray was all too happy to leave the boy with.

He was more focused on what was to come, he set everything up, as well as he could, and with or without his interference, events were moving along just fine. And Ray went on down to the hangar to check on things, he bumped in Natarle in the elevator.  
"First time we've been alone together."

"If that's an attempt at flirting you need to work on that."

"If I could flirt, I'd be on Earth right now enjoying a retirement in some place in New Caledonia, assuming it hadn't been destroyed yet." He said nonchalantly.

"Warrant Officer, do you mind if I ask you a personal question?"

"Yes?"

"Why do you fight?"

There was an awkward pause before Ray could think of a proper response.  
"That's a good question, I forget, but I've always been in the middle of trouble, whether I wanted to be or not. I seemed to get dragged into these things. It's like old leather, you don't think about it after a while, as it feels so normal."

"Habit?"

"Nature, I guess would be an answer. I don't know how to stop fighting, a sad but stupid aspect of my life, I never liked giving up." He said. "Or I already would have died."

The elevator opened up, Ray took his leave, with Natarle giving him a very perplexed expression, and she hadn't known Ray that long. But something seemed to draw her to him, not in a likeable way, but curiosity in regards to who the man was. The more she thought about it, the more he worried her and she didn't know why.

XXXXX

Kira had gone back down to the dorms, and he had found the others had gone to their stations; they were sticking around for this fight, along with Sai. In the end, they were all in this one together. If that was to be the case, then he'd stick in for them, his friends, those who he cared for and he would fight for.

As he returned to grab his pilot suit, he bumped into Mu.  
"So, are you planning on sticking around?" Mu inquired a little surprised.

"Well, I decided to, I've been thinking about everything that I've done, running away now, it doesn't feel right. Not when everyone on the ship is still here, they are my friends, and I shouldn't leave them like this. And I want to be there, to see Flay again." He said adamantly.

Kira pondered over his decision, he knew that he'd have to face down more people, and fight to keep him and those around him alive. And he knew that his choices would impact all those alive here and now, not to mention the future of this entire war, the lives of many now hung in the balance, but he couldn't keep all of them on his mind, those who were with him here and now mattered more than anything else.

It was a shallow way to look at the world, but he felt that this was what he had to ultimately focus upon, if he wanted to keep perspective, Ray made that clear that challenges were expected of life. And facing them was important if he wanted to survive the coming future, whatever it was, he was going to face it.

" _Choose to take it as you will, but in the end, there's no going back you've changed, and to accept that fact and move on is something necessary for growing up, because you can't change what you've done, no matter how much you wish to."_ He remembered what Ray said to him.

Ray was a man of contradictions, and paradoxes, some of which eluded Kira, and others which almost seemed to brutal to comprehend, he seemed to understand human nature better than most people. And he knew how to root out contradictions, the man faced them, without doubt or reservation and he found his answer.

'Would I find my answer?' Kira thought deeply.

There was a sudden change in atmosphere as something rocked the ship, the vibration of movement and the sudden rumbling as though something had struck the outside.

"What's that?" Kira asked as the alarms started to blare wildly.

"I'm guessing company…" Mu said as the alarms went off.

"All hands report to battle stations I repeat, this is not a drill, condition red has been set, all hands report to battle stations." Captain Ramius ordered across the ship.

Within moments hundreds of personnel scrambled to their designated stations, the PA calling out for personnel to their posts, from within the ship Ray had already gone down to the hangar bay. Having decided to take upon this opportunity to join in the fray, he would like to see what awaited him in this war.

Kira suited up and hurried down, Mu having boarded his unit and began to prepare to launch.  
"Where's Ray?"

"The warrant officer already left, he looked like he was in a hurry. By the way, he told us to change your loadout, hope you enjoy it kid." Murdoch told him as he let him see the modifications.

"What is this?" Kira said as he looked at the sheer list of changes.

XXXXX

Halberton entered the bridge just as the first ZAFT ships were spotted, he didn't need to be a genius to figure out that the enemy had caught them partially off guard. They were preparing for the engagement, but now that it was here, he couldn't help but notice the agitation in the crew.

"Admiral we've detected a mass movement of heat sources approaching from the other side of our epileptic, multiple heat sources indicates a fleet of ships."

"Where was EWACS?" He asked.

"Our patrols didn't report back, likely they were sunk by the enemy beforehand."

"Damn it." Halberton said as he looked over the dispersal pattern. "We were careless." He muttered as he looked at the display screen.

"Incoming barrage, dispersed strike pattern of missiles and linear cannon fire incoming!" Their tactical officer suddenly reported.

"Intercept what you can, but disperse formation accordingly, screen for high yield warheads and don't let them strike the central formation around the Archangel."

"Relaying now." Com operator reported as the fleet began to fire off in response.

In an instant the 8th fleet scrambled to alert status, their position was under fire and the ZAFT 3rd Fleet was on a direct approach for them, no doubt about it, this was the attack that they had been waiting for. But it had come with little warning which left many ships lagging behind to react to the sudden assault.

"EAV Berlin is reporting multiple impacts against its hull, damage sustained minimal, emergency bulkheads holding in place."

"Good thing we ordered for the fleet to depressurise all non-critical sections prior to engagement."

"How's our fleet formation?" He asked.

"We have a total of 20 Drake-class frigates, Austen-class 17 destroyers, 8 Scott-class cruisers, 4 Nelson-class heavy cruisers, 1 Titus-class battleship and 2 Cochrane-class escort carriers still operational."

"We'll give the ZAFT fleet a fight to remember, form up the main body of our fleet around the Archangel, we'll have the 'Nathan Hale' along with a detachment of our escort carriers break and interdict the opposing enemy battlegroup at 342-280 Yellow, tell them to lock the enemy formation down while we cover." He ordered.

"Yes Admiral."

"Admiral, we've spotted the main enemy fleet formation on approach."

"Enemy fleet formation consists of 27 ships, 12 Nazca-class heavy cruisers, 12 Laurasia-class, 2 Genoa-escort carriers, and 1 Pangea-class supercarriers all moving in formation."

"They're throwing a lot more at us than I'd like." Captain Ardis stated from Halberton's side.

"The enemy sees their chance at sinking the Archangel here as a rare one, so they'll throw everything they can manage." He stated. "We will defend her until they are able to complete re-entry."

"Captain Ramius is requesting to participate in the battle." The com operator stated.

"Tell her no, she will remain in position until all preparations for orbital descent are complete, I won't allow the ship to be risked at this critical junction." He replied.

"Very well sir."

It wasn't long before the fight began, with the ZAFT's 3rd fleet closing distance; their first volleys were with linear fire and missiles, to soften their targets up. They push in with a staggered column with their heaviest carriers supporting their main assault force. It was a quick and deadly tactic to blow through Alliance fleet formations quickly, and Halberton knew this, which is why he detached a portion of the fleet to flank.

ZAFT's attack came quickly, 27 warships, the Alliance's 8th Fleet outnumbered them nearly 2 to 1, but the enemy forces were sufficiently better armed, not to mention most Alliance victories were usually only in engagements where the Alliance outnumbered ZAFT 3 to 1 or 4 to 1. This put them in a serious disadvantage, with the numbers stacked a lot higher against them, the 8th Fleet would need to beat back significantly higher number of enemy units on its own.

The ZAFT fleet had significantly greater numbers to throw into this battle, and to top it all off the G-weapons would also be participating in this battle, no doubt to settle scores for their past defeats. Ray's suspicion on the size of the ZAFT force was correct, and the time taken for Archangel to safely reach the 8th Fleet had given them time to call in for a large fleet.

Within minutes of the first sighting, the 8th fleet began dispatching as many mobile armour units they could, a policy enacted to avoid losing entire squadrons before they left hangars. Formations of MA units brought forth took up screening positions within the fleet, their armaments prepared ready for the battle ahead.

"Jesus tap dancing Christ they want us dead!" One Moebius pilot panicked as he saw the cluster of ZAFT mobile suits coming up in formation.

"How many are there?"

"All of them, every goddamn mobile suit in the sector's being thrown at us."

"Calm down, we only need to hold them off for as long as possible, not win this engagement, if the Archangel is capable of making a clear descent into the atmosphere then we could withdraw quickly." Their squadron commander said reasserting calm as he took command.

This was a flat out lie, considering who was leading this assault fleet, Admiral Vinzer, the man who torched 2 Alliance colonies and wiped out 3 Alliance fleets with merciless persecution. He was regarded as a cold hard follower of strategic warfare, demanding utmost efficiency in executing orders, he was extremely well known for persecuting attacks against Alliance civilians, and was regarded as one of the more hard-line members of Patrick Zala's circle of officers.

Halberton faced him in the past and narrowly avoided defeat, if only just once, that was at the battle of Vega satellite colony, the battle was brutal, but he won by a narrow margin. It was one of the very few naval victories the Alliance had secured throughout the war, and it wasn't a pretty one for anyone to take up as a sign of changing tides.

The Alliance had suffered dearly to ensure the continued function of Vega station, since it provided them with much needed resources to continue operating in space against the ZAFT forces. For the most part, this victory had shaped the current course of events, with more focus to deny the Earth Alliance from getting off planet to attack the PLANTs.

But in this aspect, the satellite had cost more to save than to simply allow ZAFT to destroy it, as it had weakened orbital fleet defences, that was a no win situation for the Alliance. And now the two admirals were facing each other again in the same field. Neither exchanged words as none would be needed; here their actions would be how they spoke to one another.

XXXXX

The battle had begun to rage, with ships in full range of beam weapons, the first volley of fire came from the ZAFT Nazca-classes breaking into a spearhead formation and lining to crack the defensive screen of MA units, their tactic initially worked, until Halberton had them change to an inverted pattern, picking off mobile suits and ships in a deadly crossfire with a heavy focus on their ship support.

It resulted in the Nazca-classes at the front taking a beating, with 2 being sunk and 3 being damaged, they also managed to screen their mobile suits in a deadly crossfire, even the best of their pilots could avoid being shot from 6 different angles at once. It was a brilliant tactic that Halberton learnt from Japanese honey bees swarming a predatory wasp, it was costly, but it worked better than individually engaging enemy units.

Still Admiral Vinzer took to his defensive screen and launched a 3 prong attack in a staggered formation pattern, striking with the intent to beak Halberton's screen try to overwhelm his forces. In this, the 8th Fleet's formation took a beating.

Halberton listened to the shouts of panic as ships exchanged fire, and crews suffered loss.

"Intercept!"

"CIWS engaging."

"Too many missiles."

"Look out!"

An explosion followed as one of the Drake-class took multiple strikes, its engines and starboard missile pod being destroyed before it exploded sending the ship careening out of control, secondary internal explosions followed as it drifted away with fires burning out from the starboard section, it wasn't long before someone vented the atmosphere.

One of the Nelson-class heavy cruisers managed to lay fire into the side of a Nazca-class, before dumping its entire missile battery into the ship, the vessel was consumed in a fireball which destroyed the vessel and sent its mobile suit escorts fleeing in all directions. That Nelson-class was then destroyed as several mobile suits swarmed the ship, heavy anti-ship torpedoes; beam fire struck the ship in various sections.

The vengeful ZAFT pilots drove a warhead through the ship's engine and detonated its reactor, the vessel exploded in a shower of fire as it went critical. Halberton couldn't help but watch as he saw another one of his subordinates go down in a deathly glow, he turned his attention to the main enemy formation, and he signalled to the com operator.

"Signal our flanking force, tell them to engage along the enemy's axis and strike against their carriers, and don't let them stop them from knocking those ships out." He stated clearly.

"Yes sir."

The flanking force suddenly pulled around in formation, while ZAFT was focused on fighting the main 8th Fleet, the smaller detachment of ships came around and struck along the exposed axis via the debris field. It was a smart move, intended to break the enemy's control quickly and allow them to get in and destroy the enemy's carrier support.

ZAFT had little time to react as they were suddenly under assault from the flank, mobile suits scattering to engage with the flanking force. They swarmed quickly to stop the detached force from getting into their formation, missiles and beam fire being exchanged. MA units fired missiles striking 2 Laurasia-class and damaging a Nazca-class, but failing to get to the carriers.

A Drake-class sustained considerable damage as multiple beams struck its axis across the drive section and forward missile pods, detonating the explosive warheads and crippling the ship. It spun out of control as the air vented from the starboard section, and without the drives running to correct the ship's uncontrolled spin, it collided with another Drake-class which had been in formation.

Admiral Vinzer met Halberton's attack, making sure to whittle down their flanking force. It seemed like a futile gesture, trying to strike the heart of the enemy formation, but strangely enough, salvation came for their attack, a brilliant beam striking through the fleet's formation, gutted one of the carriers.

"What was that?"

"Sir, it's the Eventide, it's followed in with the flanking force."

Halberton couldn't help but watch in surprise as the Eventide flanked in from the side.

XXXXX

Throughout the battlefield in orbit ships were either destroyed or damaged, a fiery haze emanated throughout the battle as men and ships died. Ray noted how the explosions were nothing like how SEED depicted such explosions, with craft being reduced to fireballs or suffering massive decompression effects.

For the most part, ships didn't explode in the same way either, most tended to go down like actual space ships, either losing integrity or being blown open with crew getting sucked to oblivion, or their ships would simply implode from decompression. The sudden pinkish plume was just a way to save animation costs and also avoid gorier details of war.

The scenes of carnage were much worse, with damages; ships suffer crew loss, either because the crew is either suffocate in space or they end up being killed by the exchange of fire. Men and ships burning as they're hit, the bodies of some being sucked out and others being reduced to molten slag as their ships suffer critical damage.

The scene of carnage was truly brutal and beautiful display of lights erupting in the night sky for anyone looking about, the scene of carnage would look to the observer a strange scene of light flashes and streaks of red. In and amidst of ships engaged in deadly exchanges, the Archangel was situated to the central formation, shielded by the remaining ships from the 8th fleet.

Halberton was determined to stop the ZAFT 3rd Fleet from ever reaching the ship, even as his fleet was gradually torn to shreds from beam impacts or missile strikes, he stood defiantly; ready to give ZAFT a fight for its life. Ray had to respect the man, he was good at what he did, no doubt about that.

His suit engaged from the enemy flank, having decided to join the flanking force in the attack, he couldn't help but see what the ZAFT fleet could bring, and so he rushed headlong into battle. He saw the carriers in the enemy fleet, 2 Genoa-class escort carriers, they weren't much to look at, being capable of carrying 30 suits each, and they were slow and heavily armed.

But they were glass cannons, being designed cheaply; they were less advanced than the Pangea-class or Laurentia-class command ship, being intended to support fleet actions with escorts. Their strength was the sheer number of mobile suits they could deploy in battle, and Ray knew that he could exploit this.

Beam fire came in around Eventide as it sliced through the void, leaving a trail of glowing light around it, Ray had modified Eventide's weapon load out. He changed his shield, arming it with twin beam repeaters, and he had attached 4 missile pods onto his suit, giving him disposable firepower against large formations.

In fighter mode, he zipped from point to point, dodging incoming fire, he could see the panic in the enemy's actions, trying to zero in on him, but he was too fast. He went in hard, cutting past the remaining escorts and firing a burst from his lancer, blowing a hole through the Genoa's exposed aft engine drive.

He severed the entire section off with one shot, the one big weakness of the Genoa being its engine drives, was prone to damage and could cripple the vessel if even a missile strike got in between the structural supports. The carrier began to drift off course as the ship's engine ripped off the main craft.

"Precision strike, if I do say so." Ray said proudly.

"Incoming message from the Archangel."

"Patch it."

"Warrant Officer, what are you doing?" Murrue asked tensely.

"I figured I'd help out the 8th Fleet, it's the least I could do in the midst of this battle."

"Warrant Officer, I thought the decision was to cover the Archangel as we made our descent."

"I know, I'm sorry about being insubordinate, but for once, I'll say this. I can't hold myself back, battles like this are familiar to me, and I have no issue fighting them, I'll be able to do more fighting now than sitting back."

"Somehow I had a feeling you'd say that."

"It'll be easier than having the enemy trying to swamp the Archangel, and you have Mu and Kira to shield you as well, right?"

"Kira's-." She was about to object but she was cut off.

"I'm good to go Captain." Kira reported in.

"Kira."

"I've made my choice, so I'll fight. If it's only to see this war end, then I'll do it."

"You're growing up kid." Mu interjected.

"I'd like to continue with this bonding moment over the com channel, but I've got some unwelcome acquaintances I need to attend to." He said as he suddenly accelerated.

He dodged a burst of beam fire from the Duel, Yzak no doubt was pissed, and he came in lashing out with his full arsenal, his assault shroud providing him additional firepower. Buster moved in to support, with a whole lot of missile and beam fire, missing Ray almost every step of the way, Eventide took evasive action and retaliated.

"Nice try dickheads." He yelled over the coms. "But you'll need to do better than that."

He didn't hear their response, but he could tell he was getting under their skin; Yzak took formation with Buster and lashed out in a combined attack. Duel going low, with Buster going high, Eventide transformed and countered Duel's attack and swung around to fire at the Buster, catching the unit in the shoulder and sending Dearka barrelling out of the way.

This fight between them was fierce, as the battle had only started a few minutes ago, for men in battle this feels like hours. For Ray, he was fighting with all that he could, without going into overdrive. He didn't need to wait long before the other G-weapons and other mobile suits joined in on this battle.

But for Ray, he knew what to do, he changed into fighter mode and sent them on a chase around the field, firing off his weapons and downing more ships as well as sowing chaos, at this close range with friendly mobile suits trying to engage him, the ships had a hard time firing after him, and in his fighter mode, he had the advantage.

He swerved around another ship before he changed again, this time, getting Duel in a pincer movement, he struck hard and fast, the Duel's rail launcher hadn't even time to fire when he slammed into it and sent it colliding with a nearby GINN. Dearka chased in trying to get a clean shot, but he threw a canister filled with particles to blind him.

Dearka blind fired and nearly hit a friendly unit, before Ray showed up and grabbed his weapons from behind, he slammed the Buster in the stomach with Eventide's knee cap and threw the machine at the Nazca-class sitting between them, he didn't wait until he pulled away to engage regular mobile suits.

He was in the midst of battle when he felt something, something in the back of his mind, he looked around for it. Eventide could feel something.  
"RAY!" Alice called to him.

He reacted almost instinctively, like every nerve in his body was screaming for him to turn, and he did so to counter the incoming beam blast. Eventide rolled back as it was hit by a highly concentrated long range beam blast, telling Ray what had attacked him was coming in to take a strike out on him.

Eventide barrelled out of the way as a series of beam strikes gutted the Nazca-class he had been next to, the ship exploded, sending debris in all directions as it went critical. Ray pulled away and armed his shield barrier, and just in time as the following blast struck hard enough he was thrown back.

"I know this attack!" He said as he looked to see what had struck at him.

A red and gold trimmed mobile suit appeared, gleaming armour in the brilliance of the encroaching horizon. Its eyes brilliant and menacing, he could feel the gaze of its pilot. And he heard voice of the woman he had once loved.  
"I found you." She said.

XXXXX

AN: Okay I know this is late, thanks to some difficulties, the chapter updates fell behind; I'm balancing a lot more things than I'd like. Also I'm trying to update a few other stories; I really want to get back to writing them as well.

In any event, this chapter was originally going to be much longer, actually this was Chapter 7+8, but I cut down content and decided to split this into two parts. Just for the sake of time. I'm really trying to get new chapters out, and I'm also rewriting a lot of the original content I put in, the whole discussion with Halberton was supposed to go very differently.

And the opening battle was with the Recon unit getting spotted and a battle erupting shortly afterwards. Ray's involvement was going to be very different as well, having him engage from the rear of the fleet, not what he's doing now.


End file.
